I am always puzzled why people outside Scotland are so vehemently against Scotland deciding what it wants to do. (some of)The English keep harping on about Scotland being doomed to failure on its own and that England is Scotland's only hope of avoiding destitution and ruin. The tone is always one of contempt, not of charity - why not encourage Scotland away instead to unburden the self righteous ?
The leaders of Scotland, like any leader anywhere, are always likely to see things and proceed their way. If Scotland wants to take a co-operative attitude to international ways, even when it is starkly contrary to its currently conjoined partners' isolationist "We're the greatest and also as always invincible, bound irresistibly and inevitably to not only succeed but dominate" stance, then is that not their prerogative, especially when the current leaders (by overwhelming majority democratic choice) aim to sever the ties with those partners ?
My expectation is that the EU does not want to be seen to encourage division within member states, but the EU is not going to be seen to interfere to the extent of actively preventing orderly division either - a hands-off principle. Once a separate state has emerged then they will engage with that state on equal terms with any other - Scotland is and would/will remain geographically British and in Europe after independence (its people both British and European) and would/will be treated accordingly by the EU if/when an application to join emerges. Scotland will have every bit as good a chance of succeeding in joining the EU (my guess rather rapidly) as Malta, the Baltic states, etc., all of which had a steeper hill to climb in that regard. To suggest the EU would not be interested in having Scotland as a member is more of the same contempt which, frankly, does the purveyors no credit.