European secessionists also want to remain part of the European Union because they know that their very small would-be nations cannot succeed economically without guaranteed access to the EU’s single market. Britain is large enough to take the risk, but Scotland or Catalonia probably cannot afford it.

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Finally, although the EU’s power has grown, it still does not regulate or tax nearly as much as national governments do. For example, government spending constitutes some 40% of UK GDP, of which less than 1% goes to the European Union. The central governments of Spain and the UK constrain Scottish and Catalan autonomy far more than the EU does. Even if the EU ultimately does seek the “extinction” of national sovereignty, as Dalrymple fears, it is a long, long way from achieving that goal, and may well never do so. By contrast, existing nation-states have done much more to restrict (even if not completely extinguish) the sovereignty of their regional minorities. For these reasons, it is not surprising that, in the wake of Brexit, Scottish nationalists are likely to seek a new referendum on independence, which will – among other things – enable them to stay in the EU.

None of this implies that the secession of Scotland, Catalonia, and similar regions in other European countries is necessarily a good idea. I am no fan of nationalism of any kind, and believe that secession movements must be evaluated by their likely consequences rather than based on any supposed inherent right of ethnic groups to have states of their own. Whether the world will be a better place with an independent Scotland or an independent Catalonia is, in my opinion, a tough call.