Northern Ireland should get post-Brexit ‘observer’ MEPs, says official opposition

BRUSSELS — Northern Irish representatives should be allowed to sit as “observer” MEPs in the European Parliament even after Brexit, according to Social Democratic and Labour Party Leader (SDLP) Claire Hanna.

The idea, floated by Hanna on a trip to Brussels Wednesday, would see the legislative body recognize Northern Ireland’s unique post-Brexit position by allowing representatives to attend plenary sessions but without voting or speaking rights.

The SDLP is the official opposition party in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont. Hanna came to Brussels Wednesday to launch a new policy document calling for closer ties between NI and the EU.

Other suggestions include granting Northern Irish access to the Erasmus student mobility program and the opening of a European Commission representation office in Belfast.

“By granting Northern Ireland observer MEP status, the EU would reaffirm its commitment to democratic values, as articulated in the Treaty on the European Union,” the policy document says.

Hanna and Matthew O’Toole, leader of the opposition at Stormont, have been speaking to MEPs, political groups and the European Parliament’s Delegation to the EU-U.K. Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (EU-UK PPA). The meetings come ahead of a consent vote on the painstakingly negotiated Windsor Framework — which governs post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland — in the assembly next week.

The assembly’s vote should also trigger a U.K. review of the Windsor Framework — and the SDLP has been pitching what it terms “broad and positive” ideas for reform. “The Brexit years have been bumpy for Northern Ireland and opportunities were lost,” Hanna told POLITICO.

But she said of the new, Labour administration in London: “There is no doubt that it’s positive to have a government that respects and has an interest in the island of Ireland. For our region, London and Dublin operating as equals and friends is absolutely essential.”

She argued that it remains in the U.K.’s economic interest to forge closer ties with Brussels: “There’s a clearly a different attitude to working with Europe — and, my god, the U.K. economy needs it.”