The Stormont assembly will vote next Tuesday on retaining the post-Brexit trading arrangements.
A motion on the democratic consent vote on the Northern Ireland protocol was jointly tabled by Sinn Féin, Alliance and the SDLP after the first and deputy first ministers failed to agree a motion within the one-month period specified by legislation.
Unlike other assembly votes, next week’s does not require cross-community support.
Analysis carried out by The Irish News last month concluded that a majority of MLAs would support the continuation of the post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Some 52 MLAs from Sinn Féin, Alliance and SDLP are expected to vote in favour of retaining the current trading arrangements, alongside People Before Profit’s Gerry Carroll, who in 2016 campaigned for the UK to leave the EU.
All unionists, including independent Claire Sugden, will vote against the Irish Sea border but in the absence of assembly speaker Edwin Poots, they will collectively secure 36 votes.
Failure to secure cross-community support for articles 5-10 of the Windsor Framework will trigger a British government review of the regulations that keep the north in the EU single market.
Meanwhile, SDLP leader Claire Hanna and leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole will together launch a series of proposals around Northern Ireland’s future relationship with Europe.
The party’s ‘Our European Future’ paper, which will be launched in Brussels on Wednesday, calls on the British government and the EU to use the expected post-consent vote review to focus not solely on east-west trade but on “Brexit impacts on the all-Ireland economy, as well as on opportunities from Northern Ireland’s unique position”.
The paper also includes proposals for regional representation in the European Parliament, potentially through what is terms “observer MEPs”, the opening of an EU Commission office in Belfast, and “enhanced youth mobility opportunities for all NI young people, including full participation in Erasmus”.
Mr O’Toole MLA said next week’s assembly vote provided an opportunity to “examine our relationship with Europe after all the upheaval of the past few years”.
“The independent review that will take place after the vote should encompass every challenge and opportunity that exists and must be markedly different than the previous clandestine, bilateral process between the DUP and the UK government that focused exclusively on east-west trade and pandered solely to the interests of one party,” he said.
“This new review must be about protecting the interests of everyone who lives on this island, that’s the argument we’ll be making in Brussels and across these islands in the weeks and months ahead.”
