Marine Le Pen, a prominent figure in French politics, has been found guilty of embezzlement of European Union (EU) funds. She has been caught up in a wider scheme involving at least eight Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and 12 parliamentary assistants. Combined, they participated in more than 40 sham contracts spanning almost 12 years. The total value of EU funds at stake in these fraudulent operations was over €4.6 million. It ruled that money had been misappropriated in order to fund Le Pen’s political party. Although she was not found guilty of directly stealing the funds, the ruling showed a misallocation of resources.
The judgement was read by presiding judge Bénédicte de Perthuis, who headed the court proceedings. Given the weight of this judgment, Le Pen’s political future hangs in the balance. It increasingly puts at risk her ambition for the 2027 presidential election. Le Pen must be prohibited from holding any public office for five years, effective immediately. The duration of the ban for other respondents will be detailed separately.
The court’s ruling was long and complicated, because Judge de Perthuis gave very long written justifications for his ruling.
“It was going to be a bit long,” she noted, as it gives “a number of explanations for the decision taken.” – Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis
The court’s findings showed that over 40 contracts were completely fictitious in order to divert EU money. These sham contracts even hired people who didn’t work for Le Pen’s party in reality. They weren’t doing their jobs, their intended jobs as parliamentary assistants.
“It was established that all these people were actually working for the party, that their (EU) lawmaker had not given them any tasks.” – Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis
What those investigations found was nothing short of horrifying. This was more than out of touch administration error, this was a planned system designed to reduce party costs by abusing EU money.
“The investigations also showed that these were not administrative errors… but embezzlement within the framework of a system put in place to reduce the party’s costs.” – Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis
The ruling arrives at a key juncture for Marine Le Pen, whose own political prospects now hang in the balance. This ban on running for public office ends up being a major obstacle for her plans. Yet today, she has an uphill battle to fight against reelection in future elections.