An investigation is to be carried out into whether Alex Salmond breached the ministerial code as the row over legal advice on Scotland's place in Europe continued.
The First Minister confirmed he would refer himself to independent investigators, who will consider if he has broken the rules that govern ministers' behaviour.
It comes after his Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed on Tuesday that the Scottish Government had only now commissioned specific legal advice from law officers on the issue of an independent Scotland's future within the European Union.
But in a television interview earlier this year, Mr Salmond appeared to suggest advice had already been taken on this.
When asked if he had sought advice from Scottish law officers, the First Minister said: "We have, yes, in terms of the debate."
Labour MEP Catherine Stihler - who used Freedom of Information legislation to try to ascertain what advice if any existed - on Wednesday wrote to the First Minister demanding a formal investigation into "whether the ministerial code has been broken and whether a clear abuse of power and position has taken place".
Mr Salmond said: "I can confirm to the chamber that I have today agreed to that request by referring the matter to the Independent Panel of Advisers on the Ministerial Code."
