According to this article, EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger expressed about linking "rule of law" within a EU member with how much money that specific member can get:
The possibility of tying payments to adherence to the "rule of law" was also openly expressed in the Commission's budget reflection paper. "We haven't made up our minds, but it is part of the discussion," said a non-committal Oettinger in Brussels.
Several EU countries are monitored using Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification and as far as I know, EU financed projects are checked thoroughly to be correctly executed (not waste money, transparent acquisition process etc.).
Question: Why does EU consider an extra condition ("rule of law") for its members projects financing?