Pensions schemes operating across Scotland and England would not face complying with EU rules on cross border pensions funding in the event of independence, first minister Alex Salmond has said.

A report by chartered accountants group ICAS last week warned that occupational schemes operating UK-wide faced maintaining full funding of liabilities and immediately rectifying deficits under EU rules.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, raising the report’s findings yesterday in First Minister’s Questions, asked how many member states the first minister had discussed his plans to protect Scottish pensions with. Salmond, however, said it was not seeking an opt-out from the EU regulations.

Responding to further questions from Labour in the Scottish Parliament, he said: "No there won't be a difference or change in the amount of time that companies are allowed to recover."

It follows comments by Scottish government finance secretary John Swinney on the BBC's Sunday Politics Scotland programme, who said it would discuss allowing longer timescales with the EU. The Scottish government officials are currently developing a pensions paper.

Davidson said the first minister was "making it up as he goes along".

She said: “The first minister is clueless on how he would guarantee people's pensions under separation and yet he is willing to gamble the futures of every man, woman and child on his punt to break-up the UK.”

A spokesperson for ICAS said it was happy to let the report talk for itself.

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