BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany and three other nations say the European Union needs a powerful watchdog to insure that member states adhere to fundamental values including democracy, respect for human rights and freedom of expression.

The EU “must be able to react swiftly and effectively to ensure compliance” with the bloc’s basic principles if a member country is seen as backsliding, including a last-resort option to cut EU funding to offenders, the foreign ministers of Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark said.