The EU will enlarge on 1 May

The Scottish National Party's John Swinney believes there will be a "brain drain" of talent leaving Scotland to live in the enlarged EU.

But First Minister Jack McConnell said a bigger EU will be a positive thing.

With Scotland's population dwindling, Mr McConnell wants to attract more people from abroad to study and work north of the border.

Mr Swinney said people should "disown" the scare stories surrounding an influx of new immigrants.

However, he has expressed worries that Scotland's economic prosperity could be put at risk because of the change to the EU on 1 May.

In a speech to the International Politics Association at St Andrews University on Monday, he said that unless Scotland takes full control over its economy, it could be overtaken by the accession states in the years ahead.

The SNP leader added: "For Scotland, European enlargement should indeed prompt a vigorous and searching debate on emigration, but that debate should be grounded in reality.

Scotland will not be competing against one, but 10 new Irelands - countries with the golden combination of a commitment to growth, full economic powers and full EU membership John Swinney SNP leader

"And the reality is this. In the new enlarged Europe, our primary concern should not be about how to stop talented people from coming to Scotland, it should be about how to stop talented Scots from leaving to go elsewhere.

"That threat of a growing brain drain is a direct result of Scotland's lack of powers to compete in the new Europe."

Mr Swinney reckons that the threat to Scotland is not Polish immigrants, but a "dynamic and growing Polish economy".

He said: "The consequences will be an accelerated brain drain and a loss of jobs and investment."

Mr Swinney also compared the Eastern European nations to Ireland, which prospered after signing up to the single market.

'Dynamic society'

And he called for Scotland to have full economic powers in order to properly compete with the accession states.

The SNP leader said: "When Ireland joined the EU, living standards were 60% of the EU average.

"Today Ireland is the second wealthiest country in Europe, and the fifth richest in the world.

"It has transformed itself from an emigrant society into a dynamic economy, which retains its best and brightest and brings in fresh talent.

"Come May 1, Scotland will not be competing against one, but 10 new Irelands - countries with the golden combination of a commitment to growth, full economic powers and full EU membership."

'Skilled migration'

Mr McConnell will use his keynote address to next week's Scottish Labour Party conference to set out his thinking on an enlarged Europe.

He will acknowledge that he faces opposition from many Scots unwilling to accept foreigners.

But he will also insist that he is determined not to be deflected from his goal.

Speaking on Monday, the first minister said: "I don't want to pre-empt David Blunkett's announcement but my understanding is he will announce a system designed to ensure that we can have managed, skilled migration in this country, at the same time as restricting the access to this country for those who are not coming here specifically to work.