Tomorrow, EU finance ministers will meet in Brussels with the issue of Hungary's cohesion and COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funding at the top of the agenda. Both the European Parliament and Commission have recommended that EUR7.5bn in Cohesion funding from the long-term Multiannual Financial Framework is withheld due to concerns about rule of law standards in Hungary falling short of EU expectations.

• Ministers are also set to approve the Hungarian gov'ts plans for using EUR5.5bn in RRF funding, but with the catch that the funding will only be released once the Hungarian gov't hits all 27 'supermilestones' outlined by the Commission with regards to judicial independence and rule of law principles.
• For its part, the Hungarian gov't is seeking to force the EU's hand in not barring access to the cohesion and RRF funds by threatening a veto of EUR18bn in assistance funding to Ukraine. The Hungarian gov't has argued it would be better to fund Ukraine via bilateral agreements rather than via EU debt, but critics have said the hold-out is poorly timed in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• Meeting gets underway at 1000CET (0400ET, 0900GMT) on Tuesday 6 December.