"As you can see, applying for and becoming a member is not a short term issue. "
Scotland will argue, with some justification, that they were members of the EU, that they were dragged out of the EU against their wishes and that their current structures of Govt and legislation conform to EU standards to end 2019 and the longer they're left out in the cold the more they'll start to diverge
The EU doesn't have to deal with applicants in the order they joined the line