On 11 April 2019 David Simmonds, Deputy Leader of the London Borough of Hillingdon in the United Kingdom, spoke on behalf of the ECR Group during the plenary debate on fundamental rights. In his intervention, he advocated in favour of upholding the principle of rule of law but against linking it to EU funds.  

The European Commission made plans to link EU funds to rule of law in 2018. On April 19 2019, the European Parliament backed the European Commission's proposal to cut funds to EU countries that do not adhere to rule of law, with 397 MEPs voting in favour, and 158 MEPs voting against the proposal.

Mr Simmonds stressed that "introducing conditionality to cohesion policy would create an unjust and unfair situation in which local and regional authorities would be the victims of a failure on the part of Member States to comply with some of the rules." In fact, this would disadvantage cities and regions, who are the main beneficiaries of cohesion policy.

"Local and regional authorities would be penalised for actions that have been taken at the national level and which they cannot influence. This is simply unacceptable."

The ECR Group believes that respect for fundamental rights, as enshrined in the EU Treaties, is an important principle that must always be upheld. While believing that the EU should help defend the rule of law, the ECR Group also highlights the fact that the primary responsibility for upholding democratic standards in Europe lies not with the largely unelected EU institutions, but with the Member States.