Many European states - including big boys like Germany, Italy and Spain - are relatively ‘recent’ conglomerations of smaller national units, while all EU states - pretty much - are “unions” formed between a range of semi-sovereign or once sovereign national/ethnic groups.
The UK is an emblematic example.
For some reason, certain people - nationalists, let's say - are comfortable with this when it comes to France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Belgium etc. (all comprised of a patchwork of formerly independent polities with long histories behind them and unique cultures - just ask my fellow Scots in Britain or the Bavarians in Germany, the Bretons in France and the Catalans in Spain) but resist the logic of extending this narrative to Europe as a whole and moreover presents the EU as some kind of historic aberration or anomaly.
In fact, the EU is the culmination of a trend spanning centuries - if not millennia - in Europe (and the wider world, for that matter).
The gradual formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, somewhat ironically, like EU integration “in miniature”. England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales moved from a state of near-constant warfare, massacre and violence throughout the 16th-17th centuries; before adopting a common crown, parliament, government, currency, laws and so on in the 18th and 19th centuries (albeit Ireland did an Irexit in 1922 that was far more bloody, internecine and chaotic than Brexit).
To this day, Scotland and England (to take one example) remain distinct countries within the British nation-state, with Scots retaining our own legal system since 1707 and devolved parliamentary government from 1999 i.e.
Scots law - Wikipedia
In Europe, the cognate to the Scottish-English relationship is that between France and Germany: former longstanding foes, now united under common institutions and a single supranational European identity.
The UK is an emblematic example.
For some reason, certain people - nationalists, let's say - are comfortable with this when it comes to France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Belgium etc. (all comprised of a patchwork of formerly independent polities with long histories behind them and unique cultures - just ask my fellow Scots in Britain or the Bavarians in Germany, the Bretons in France and the Catalans in Spain) but resist the logic of extending this narrative to Europe as a whole and moreover presents the EU as some kind of historic aberration or anomaly.
In fact, the EU is the culmination of a trend spanning centuries - if not millennia - in Europe (and the wider world, for that matter).
The gradual formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, somewhat ironically, like EU integration “in miniature”. England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales moved from a state of near-constant warfare, massacre and violence throughout the 16th-17th centuries; before adopting a common crown, parliament, government, currency, laws and so on in the 18th and 19th centuries (albeit Ireland did an Irexit in 1922 that was far more bloody, internecine and chaotic than Brexit).
To this day, Scotland and England (to take one example) remain distinct countries within the British nation-state, with Scots retaining our own legal system since 1707 and devolved parliamentary government from 1999 i.e.
Scots law - Wikipedia
Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources.
Early Scots law before the 12th century consisted of the different legal traditions of the various cultural groups who inhabited the country at the time.
Scots law recognises four sources of law: legislation, legal precedent, specific academic writings, and custom. Legislation affecting Scotland may be passed by the Scottish Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament, and the European Union. Some legislation passed by the pre-1707 Parliament of Scotland is still also valid.
Since the Union with England Act 1707, Scotland has shared a legislature with England and Wales. Scotland retained a fundamentally different legal system from that south of the border. Since the UK joined the European Union, Scots law has also been affected by European law
While Scots and English are both British (and identify as such, in the main), you’d be a brave person indeed to confuse a Scotsman for an Englishman face-to-face. Our sub-national, or national, identities remain within the Union - just like with EU member states.Early Scots law before the 12th century consisted of the different legal traditions of the various cultural groups who inhabited the country at the time.
Scots law recognises four sources of law: legislation, legal precedent, specific academic writings, and custom. Legislation affecting Scotland may be passed by the Scottish Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament, and the European Union. Some legislation passed by the pre-1707 Parliament of Scotland is still also valid.
Since the Union with England Act 1707, Scotland has shared a legislature with England and Wales. Scotland retained a fundamentally different legal system from that south of the border. Since the UK joined the European Union, Scots law has also been affected by European law
In Europe, the cognate to the Scottish-English relationship is that between France and Germany: former longstanding foes, now united under common institutions and a single supranational European identity.