Diane Dodds Selected For European Parliament Committee

DUP MEP Diane Dodds has been re-appointed to serve on the legislative European Parliament Committee known as the Conference of Presidents.

Parliament President Martin Schulz selected Mrs Dodds to join the Conference, which is responsible for the organisation of business and legislative planning, deciding the responsibilities and membership of committees and delegations and relations with other EU institutions, the national parliaments and non-EU countries.

The move makes Mrs Dodds the only Northern Ireland MEP to ever sit on the committee.

Diane Dodds said: "During the last Parliamentary term I had the privilege of serving on the Conference of Presidents, and I am delighted that the President of the Parliament, Martin Schulz, has asked me once again to serve as we start into a new term.

"This puts Northern Ireland at the top table of European Parliament decision making, and by having access to the most influential figures in the Parliament I can make known the needs of Northern Ireland to those driving the agenda in Brussels. I have no doubt that this brought benefits to Northern Ireland in the course of the last term. That high level networking is vitally important, and is a huge bonus for Northern Ireland as a small part of the European Union.

"What is also essential is that the voice of those disaffected by the current state of the European Union is also heard in this forum. I am unashamedly critical of the EU of 2014, the need for radical reform and a new relationship between countries across Europe. That too is a message I will be delivering to the Conference of Presidents. A blind eye can no longer be turned to the rising tide of Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom and right across Europe."

(IT/CD)