Hungary and Poland's court bid to stop EU cash handouts from being conditional on respect for rule of law "should be dismissed".
Budapest and Warsaw took their case to the European Court of Justice.
But, on Thursday, the court's advocate general issued an opinion arguing that their attempt should be thrown out.
The advice of the court precedes a full court decision, which is expected within the coming months.
Linking the disbursement of funds to democratic principles was a key part of the EU’s
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