In a
situation whereby we acknowledge the fact that the insurgency has seriously being degraded, we need to
see a scale down of the defence budget,» he said.
The opinion does not discuss the question of whether Scotland could maintain the Treaty opt - outs that the UK currently enjoys, but simply notes that the Treaty does not contemplate a
situation whereby the accession procedures could be varied (and elsewhere, the Commission has made it quite clear that adoption of the acquis is non-negotiable;
see also Article 7, Protocol 19 of the Treaties on the Schengen acquis).