The government’s insistence that the UK must leave the jurisdiction of the European court of justice (ECJ) after Brexit could see Northern Ireland lose tens of millions of pounds in funding for its peace and reconciliation programmes, according to a pressure group.



Open Britain, which campaigns against a hard Brexit, claims that unless the government gives ground on the matter, the European Union’s PEACE programme, which under its fourth round of funding covering the period 2014 to 2020 is to receive £208m from the European Regional Development Fund, is in jeopardy.

The programme, which aims to boost “cohesion between communities involved in the conflict in Northern Ireland” and “economic and social stability”, applies to Northern Ireland and the six border counties of the Republic of Ireland.

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Projects funded by the programme include the Victims and Survivors Service, which has so far received £11.4m to support up to 17,650 victims and survivors of the Troubles.

Northern Irish councils have also been given almost £30m to “promote positive relations between people from different communities and backgrounds”. The programme was welcomed by DUP leader Arlene Foster.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Michel Barnier: ‘I am very attached to maintaining conditions for peace and stability in Northern Ireland.’ Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator, has said that the programme “is one of the very important instruments that has contributed towards the Good Friday agreement and I am very attached to that and I am very attached to maintaining conditions for peace and stability in Northern Ireland”.

The government has pledged to maintain the programme. In its position paper on Northern Ireland and Ireland, the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) suggested that the UK and EU should “agree to the continuation of PEACE funding to Northern Ireland and border counties of Ireland”. It also accepted that EU agencies should continue to be the “managing authority” of the programme.

In an article in Northern Ireland’s Irish News newspaper on Thursday, the prime minister, Theresa May, stated: “There may be specific and valuable EU programmes for which we want to agree the continuation of funding. Peace funding in Northern Ireland is one of them.”

But because the programme is governed by an EU regulation it falls under the jurisdiction of the European court of justice.

Open Britain claims this means that, unless the government changes its position and recognises the authority of the court in this instance, Northern Ireland will no longer be able to benefit from the current programme. And, by implication, any further rounds of funding from it would no longer be possible.

“This government’s dogmatic insistence on taking Britain out of the jurisdiction of the European court of justice could put vital funding for Northern Ireland at risk,” said Peter Hain, a leading supporter of Open Britain and former secretary of state for Northern Ireland.

“Ministers themselves say the UK should remain part of the PEACE programme. But they have not faced up to the reality that this cannot be squared with their policy of leaving the jurisdiction of the ECJ. The government needs to bow to reality and accept that this programme will require the softening of their unnecessary red line on judicial sovereignty.”

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However, Norway and Switzerland – two countries that are not bound by the ECJ – receive PEACE programme funding, suggesting that a way through the apparent impasse can be found. Sources close to the negotiations say that they believe the issue of maintaining peace in Northern Ireland is of such importance that neither side would want to derail it.

Nevertheless, both sides agree that Brexit has left the issue of continued funding unresolved.

A European parliament briefing to MEPs last month stated that “the Northern Ireland PEACE programme will form part of the discussions that are to take place during the upcoming negotiations between the UK government and the European Union”.