CARMARTHEN East and Dinefwr AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas has urged the UK Government to develop a "contingency plan” to address the funding shortfall should Wales be “dragged out” of the EU as a result of the 2017 referendum.

Mr Thomas, who represents the National Assembly for Wales at the European Union Committee of Regions, said the UK government “must take action” to protect “the most disadvantaged communities in Wales” which benefit from EU membership.

Wales would be around £50million worse off every year should the UK vote to leave the EU with West Wales and the Valleys among the poorest regions in Europe and qualifying for a third round of European funding.

Although no precise financial breakdown of the exact value of EU membership to Wales is available due to the way funds are bundled into a UK total, Plaid Cymru MEP for the Carmarthenshire region Jill Evans reported in 2014 that the Welsh economy saw a net annual gain of around £50m, with Wales receiving approximately £510m per year in grants, funding and subsidies, while contributing around £460m annually as part of the UK’s payment to Brussels.

Current figures show that each person in Wales contributes €195.82 per year to the EU, while EU funding to Wales is worth an estimated €243.98 per person annually.

Plaid Cymru has now called on the UK Government to include safeguards to protect funding for Wales ahead of the Second Reading of the EU Referendum Bill.

“The UK government must take action and include in the proposed Parliamentary Bill a contingency plan to protect funding to the most disadvantaged communities in Wales, and indeed, the EU,” said Mr Thomas.

“As the National Assembly's representative to the European Union’s Committee of Regions, I have been at the forefront of efforts to secure the best deals for Wales. Structural funding has helped job creation and the development of businesses across Wales, while the Common Agricultural Policy offers support to Welsh farmers and rural communities, protecting a cornerstone of the Welsh economy.

“In the current legislation, the government has not made any provisions for the continuation of regional funding and the common agricultural policy. It is imperative that plans are put in place to ensure businesses, farmers, communities and projects in west Wales and the valleys are not held up in any way in the event of an exit from the European Union.

“If Wales is dragged out of the European Union those communities which are most at risk and who qualify for EU support must continue to receive funding.”

Plaid Cymru’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson at Westminster Hywel Williams said: "Plaid Cymru is a critical friend of the European Union believing that it must be reformed. We are firmly in favour of Wales remaining in the union as we recognise the huge benefits to business and industry from the single market, and the crucial funding Welsh communities receive as a result of regional and agricultural policy.

"When the EU Referendum Bill has its Second Reading in the House of Commons this week it will be the first opportunity for MPs to fully discuss the Bill itself, the referendum, and EU membership more widely. I will of course be highlighting Plaid Cymru’s position in favour of EU membership, how we disagree with the terms of the Government’s proposed renegotiation, and the reforms we would instead like to see implemented at an EU level.

"Crucially, I will also be highlighting the need for the UK Government to set out contingency plans for vital EU funding to Wales in the event of a vote to leave, and calling on it to do so urgently. As the Bill stands, there is no provision, and the Government has not set out its intentions."