She has named ‘Brexit’ as one of the few triggers that could lead to a snap referendum on the country’s independence.
The in-out referendum on EU membership will be held on June 23 - seven weeks after the elections to the Scottish Parliament in which the SNP is riding high in the polls.
Polls have also consistently shown that Scotland is more in favour of remaining in the EU than the rest of the UK, and a vote to leave against the majority will of the Scottish people has been suggested as a possible trigger for another independence referendum.
Brexit could also have a concrete impact on Scots who benefit from EU subsidises and exporting to the Continent without trade barriers.
Britain Stronger In Europe, the pro-EU campaign, has said that exports from Scotland to the Continent are worth an estimated £11.6 billion.
Brexit: The arguments for and against the EU
Over the next five years Scotland is due to receive around £33 million from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and hundreds of millions more from structural funds.
Ms Sturgeon said: "The EU is a 'coming together' of independent states that choose to pool some of their sovereignty to better tackle those issues that don't respect national boundaries - like climate change, energy security and the refugee crisis.
"It's not a perfect institution - and while I believe it would be best for Scotland to be in the EU as an independent member state, I believe it is better for us in all circumstances to stay in."
The financial benefits of membership are likely to dominate the referendum debate in Wales.
The country received an estimated £3.8billion between 2007 and 2013 from the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy, structural funds and other funding streams.
In Northern Ireland, some of the most heated rhetoric in the EU referendum debate so far has been deployed in the scrap over whether Brexit would destabilise the peace process.
Political leaders in the country and pro-EU campaigners have said Brexit could “undermine” the basis for power-sharing agreements but Eurosceptic have angrily denied the claims.
Questions have also been raised about whether the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish republic could remain open if the UK voted for exit.
Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/579309/s/4dba5d21/sc/13/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cnewstopics0Ceureferendum0C121665970CScotland0Eto0Edeclare0Eindependence0Eif0EBritain0Evotes0Eto0EEuropean0EUnion0Esays0ENicola0ESturgeon0Bhtml/story01.htm
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