Scotland should have a different Brexit deal with the European Union to reflect the country's specific needs, a committee of politicians from the House of Lords said in a report Wednesday.
But the House of Lords' European Union Committee ruled out as impracticable Scotland staying in the EU single market if the rest of Britain leaves.
"Scottish membership of the single market while the rest of the UK leaves the single market, is politically impracticable, legally highly complex and economically potentially disruptive to the functioning of the UK single market," said the report.
Peers said in their report that while last June's EU referendum delivered a UK-wide vote to leave, the British government needed to recognize that the remain vote in Scotland, at 62 percent, was the largest and most decisive in any of the four parts of Britain.
They added in their report: "We consider that, in the event that the UK government does not secure a UK-wide agreement that adequately reflects Scotland's specific needs, there is a strong political and economic case for making differentiated arrangements for Scotland."
The report said the Scottish economy had particularly pressing needs, including its reliance on access to EU labor, which is acute in sectors such as health and social care, agriculture, food and drink, and hospitality.
"We also note Scotland's demographic needs, and its reliance upon EU migration to enable its population (and in particular, that of working age) to grow. Scotland's more sparsely populated regions are disproportionately reliant both on EU migration and EU funding," they said.
It could see Scotland setting its own immigration rules to control the flow of people into its region of Britain.
The committee called on the Westminster government, in its forthcoming immigration bill, to look for opportunities to enhance the role of the devolved institutions in managing EU migration in ways that meet their specific needs.
"Local and regional economic and demographic needs, rather than central targets, should drive decision-making," the committee concluded.
