Independent Scotland 'difficult, if not impossible' to integrate with EU: Barroso

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

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It will be "difficult, if not impossible" for an independent Scotland to become a member of the EU if it votes to break away from Britain, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso warned Sunday.
      
"In case there is a new country, a new state, coming out of our current member state, it will have to apply and the application and the accession to the European Union would have to be approved by all the other member states of the European Union," he told BBC television in reference to Scotland's upcoming referendum.
      
"I think it would be ... extremely difficult to get the approval of all the other member states, to have a new member coming from one member state."       

Scots will head to the polls to vote on their independence on September 18.
      
"I believe it's going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, a new member state coming out of one of our countries, getting the agreement (of member states)," Barroso said on Sunday, adding it was for the people to decide on the future of Scotland.