The north “must have representation” in the European Parliament, the SDLP has insisted ahead of a Stormont motion on improving relations with the EU.
The party’s Leader of the Opposition at Stormont, Matthew O’Toole, has said directly electing MEPs, or representatives from the north having a form of “observer status”, are among options that could be explored.
The SDLP is placing an Opposition Day motion before the Assembly on Monday on boosting Northern Ireland’s relationship with the European Union.
Although the north left the bloc with the rest of the UK in 2020, it still effectively remains in the EU’s single market for goods as a result of the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol, which was agreed by the UK and EU in their 2019 Withdrawal Agreement.
An Assembly vote on the continued operation of the Protocol - which was adjusted in the 2023 Windsor Framework UK/EU deal - is due to take place next month.
Mr O’Toole said MLAs “should use this as an opportunity to discuss the potential that exists within our future relationship with Europe”.
“As the most pro-European party in Northern Ireland, the SDLP is determined to maximise the benefits of our relationship with the EU and so is using Opposition time to make the case for it,” the South Belfast MLA said, adding the north has “important protections and economic opportunities” through the Windsor Framework/NI Protocol, including EU and UK dual market access.
“As well as deriving that benefit, we want to go further in maximising the ways in which our people – who are also entitled to EU citizenship by birthright - can benefit from the widest possible range of other EU programmes,” he said.
“Critical to maximising all these opportunities is having our voice heard in Brussels. There are multiple routes to doing this from electing full-blown MEPs to the north having some form of observer status for locally elected representatives. One thing is clear: the anti-Protocol voices who have lambasted our post-Brexit status as undemocratic can hardly complain about the goal of giving us a clear democratic voice in Brussels.”
