07/07/2021 (Agence Europe) – The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, told MEPs on Wednesday 7 July that her institution will start “the first files this autumn” on the regulation making the payment of EU funds conditional on respect for the Rule of law (see EUROPE 12756/3). “Not a single case will be lost”, the Commission President repeated. She stressed that protecting the EU budget “is not an abstract issue. We will watch over it closely”. “Measures must be taken, if it is established that breaches of the rule of law in Member States affect or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the Union budget. And I look forward to the decision of the Court of Justice, which will clarify the situation for everyone in Europe”, she concluded. (LC)