sion services to ensure that monitoring is carried out properly. Most importantly, the Commission will have to show political leadership and courage and block or not release funding in case of breaches. It has not always shown the requisite resolve. In De­cember 2023, for example, the Commission set a dangerous precedent by unfreezing€10.2 billion in cohesion funds to Hungary, citing»sufficient guarantees« on judicial independence reforms. In reality, however, it was all too obvious that this unfreezing was linked to lifting the Hungarian veto for the Ukraine support package of€50 bil ­lion. 23 By acting in this way, the Commission sig­nalled to authoritarian or authoritarian-leaning member states that it accepts values as a nego­tiable item in exchange for other policy objec­tives, and that it does not take its role as»Guardi­an of the Treaties« as seriously as it should. As the conditionality mechanism is the most impor­tant safeguard against democratic backsliding in the next MFF, the Commission will have to make sure that its application is irreproachable and not subject to negotiation with member states. The Commission also plans to increase transpar­ency with regard to beneficiaries of EU funds by publishing information on the recipients in a cen­tralised database on the Commission‘s website. It also wants to»explore new processes or meas­ures for risk-based thorough screening of benefi­ciaries of EU funding for security risks and in­compatibility with EU values« to protect the EU budget from those holding radical or extremist views in member states. 24 While this increased scrutiny is a positive development, the assess­ment must be truly independent of political con­siderations, especially when far-right leaders are already in executive positions within the EU insti­tutions. Otherwise, there is a risk that this instru­ment could be misused against actors defending democracy in the member states. In addition, the Early Detection and Exclusion Sys­tem(EDES), which protects the EU budget from fraud and irregularities, will be extended to funds implemented under shared management, thereby broadening its scope significantly. Originally, EDES applied only to direct and indirect management funds(about 24 per cent of the EU budget); start ­ing in 2028, it will also cover shared management funds(about 75 per cent of the EU budget). 25 Complementary to the MFF proposal, the Com­mission published a White Paper for the an­ti-fraud architecture review, preparing a compre­hensive review of the EU’s anti-fraud architec­ture. 26 The document reviews the EU anti-fraud system(AFA), composed of institutions such as the European Anti-Fraud Office(OLAF), the Euro­pean Public Prosecutor’s Office(EPPO), the Euro­pean Court of Auditors(ECA), Eurojust and Eu­ropol, as well as the newly established Anti-Mon­ey Laundering Authority(AMLA) 27 and the planned EU Customs Authority. The objective of the white paper is to strengthen the protection of the EU’s financial interests in the next MFF and to respond to new threats, such as transnational fraud, organised crime or new technologies. It in­cludes proposals such as more systematic coop­eration between OLAF and EPPO, better joint use of forensic and operational analytical capa­bilities, and possibly increased powers for Eu­ropol as a central actor in fraud analysis. 10. Recommendations In light of the challenges outlined above – in­cluding internal and external threats to democ­racy, deteriorating funding environments and 23  Jorge Liboreiro(2023): Brussels releases€10 billion in frozen EU funds for Hungary amid Orbán‘s threats, Euronews(December). 24  European Commission(2025): A dynamic EU Budget for the priorities of the future – The Multiannual Financial Framework 2028–2034, Communication COM(2025) 570 final, 16 July. 25  Jan Stráský/Federico Giovannelli(2025): Repurposing the EU budget for new challenges, in: OECD Economic Surveys: European Union and Euro Area 2025(July). 26  European Commission(2025): White Paper for the anti-fraud architecture review, COM/2025/546 final, 16 July. 27  AMLA will be operationalised by 2028. 12 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.