Northern Ireland should be allowed to keep hundreds of millions of pounds in EU funding after Brexit to keep the region’s peace process on track, the European Parliament has said.

A report drawn up by the Parliament’s influential committee on regional development recommended that funding for two schemes – the Interreg and PEACE programmes – should continue whether “deal or no-deal” because of the invaluable role they have played in reducing community tensions.

The programmes, whose total funding is £470 million, are currently 85 per cent funded by the EU and focus on building trust between the unionist and nationalist communities in Northern Ireland.

The report recommends that “post-2020, without prejudice to the ongoing EU-UK negotiations, EU support for territorial cooperation, especially regarding cross-border and cross-community projects, should be continued”.

It says that there are legitimate “fears that an end to these programmes would endanger cross-border and inter- and cross-community trust-building activities and, as a consequence, the peace process”.

The report was overwhelmingly backed by a vote of MEPs in plenary by 565 votes to 51. Conservatives MEPs notably abstained, on the grounds that aspects of the report raised questions about Northern Ireland's sovereignty after Brexit.

Derek Vaughan, the committee’s rapporteur told MEPs: “Whatever happens in the future, deal or no-deal, the British government, the Irish government, and the European Union, should commit to continuing to operate and fund Interreg and the PEACE programme.

An end to these programmes would endanger cross-border and inter- and cross-community trust-building activities and, as a consequence, the peace process European Parliament report

“It has been huge economic improvement and tensions have been reduced. But we do know that those tensions still bubble away. When we were there on the delegation one of the things we were told is that some survey work had been done and since the referendum attitudes have hardened amongst the communities.”

He added: “I hope nobody gets the impression, and they shouldn’t get the view from the report, that we’re saying that ‘no EU funds means a return to the Troubles’ – the report isn’t saying that, and I wouldn’t say that. But I am saying, and what the report says, is that EU funds have made a valuable contribution to reducing those tensions and conflict.”

Corina Crețu, the EU Commissioner for regional policy, said that Northern Ireland was “undoubtedly one of the most telling examples of what cohesion policy has helped achieved in border regions and beyond”.

Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An abandoned shop is seen in Mullan, Co Monaghan. The building was home to four families who left during the Troubles. The town was largely abandoned after the hard border was put in place during the conflict. Mullan has seen some regeneration in recent years, but faces an uncertain future with Brexit on the horizon Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A defaced ‘Welcome to Northern Ireland’ sign stands on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Mervyn Johnson owns a garage in the border town of Pettigo, which straddles the counties of Donegal and Fermanagh. ‘I’ve been here since 1956, it was a bit of a problem for a few years. My premises has been blown up about six or seven times, we just kept building and starting again,’ Johnson said laughing. ‘We just got used to it [the hard border] really but now that it’s gone, we wouldn't like it back again’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Farmer Gordon Crockett’s Coshquin farm straddles both Derry/Londonderry in the North and Donegal in the Republic. ‘At the minute there is no real problem, you can cross the border as free as you want. We could cross it six or eight times a day,’ said Crockett. ‘If there was any sort of obstruction it would slow down our work every day’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures John Murphy flies the European flag outside his home near the border village of Forkhill, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Potter Brenda McGinn stands outside her Mullan, Co Monaghan, studio – the former Jas Boylan shoe factory which was the main employer in the area until it shut down due to the Troubles. ‘When I came back, this would have been somewhere you would have driven through and have been quite sad. It was a decrepit looking village,’ said McGinn, whose Busy Bee Ceramics is one of a handful of enterprises restoring life to the community. ‘Now this is a revitalised, old hidden village’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Union Flag colours painted on kerbstones and bus-stops along the border village of Newbuildings, Co Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Grass reflected in Lattone Lough, which is split by the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, seen from near Ballinacor, Northern Ireland Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Donegalman David McClintock sits in the Border Cafe in the village of Muff, which straddles Donegal and Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An old Irish phone box stands alongside a bus stop in the border town of Glaslough, Co Monaghan Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Billboards are viewed from inside a disused customs hut in Carrickcarnon, Co Down, on the border with Co Louth in the Republic Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Seamus McQuaid takes packages that locals on the Irish side of the border have delivered to his business, McQuaid Auto-Parts, to save money on postal fees, near the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler. ‘I live in the south but the business is in the North,’ said McQaid. "I wholesale into the Republic of Ireland so if there’s duty, I’ll have to set up a company 200 yards up the road to sell to my customers. I’ll have to bring the same product in through Dublin instead of Belfast’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A disused Great Northern Railway line and station that was for customs and excise on the border town of Glenfarne, Co Leitrim Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Alice Mullen, from Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland, does her shopping at a former customs post on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh. ‘I’d be very worried if it was a hard border, I remember when people were divided. I would be very afraid of the threat to the peace process, it was a dreadful time to live through. Even to go to mass on a Sunday, you’d have to go through checkpoints. It is terribly stressful,’ said Mullen. ‘All those barricades and boundaries were pulled down. I see it as a huge big exercise of trust and I do believe everyone breathed a sigh of relief’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A bus stop and red post box stand in the border town of Jonesborough, Co Armagh Reuters

MEPs from both unionist and nationalist communities in Northern Ireland welcomed the report in a debate in the European Parliament.

The EU legislature’s gentle approach to Northern Ireland over Brexit appears to contrast with that of some British Brexiteers. A poll from June found that most Leave voters would press ahead with Brexit even if it meant sacrificing the Good Friday Agreement, while prominent Leave-supporting Tories have complained the border issue has been given too much prominence.