[arethuza]

Worth noting though that the budget deficit of all countries varies a lot over time and that the budget deficit as % of GDP of Scotland now is actually less than that of the UK in 2009-2010 and I didn't hear much about the UK being evicted from the EU because of that.

[k-mcgrady]

2009-10 was still the middle of the worst global financial crisis in a century. The rules for being allowed to join the EU are strict - once you're in you don't have to keep following the entry requirements.