EU prosecutors said Tuesday they were conducting searches in France and other countries into alleged misappropriation of EU funds by a defunct right-wing group in the European parliament.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said it was “carrying out investigative measures in France and other European countries as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of EU funds by a former political group of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2024.”
It confirmed a report in the French daily Le Monde, which said raids were underway in France, Spain, Italy and Belgium as part of a probe into the alleged misuse of European parliament funds by the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group.
The ID group contained MEPs from a range of Eurosceptic parties including France’s National Rally (RN), Italy’s League and the Alternative for Germany.
“Since early this morning, searches have been underway at the offices and private homes of communications service providers who have worked with us,” RN president Jordan Bardella said on X.
The EU’s prosecutor announced formal investigations in July last year after media quoted a parliamentary report as saying said ID was suspected of improperly spending 4.3 million euros ($5 million) between 2019 and 2024.
Most of this money went to an adviser of RN veteran presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and to his wife, according to that report.
ID was formally disbanded after elections in 2024 and was succeeded by the Patriots for Europe group.
Bardella, who heads the Patriots group, last year said the probe represented a “new harassment operation by the European Parliament”.
The RN is eyeing its best chance yet of winning the presidency in France next year, with polls suggesting it will have a commanding lead in the first round of voting.
But Le Pen may have to quit the race, and let Bardella run instead, if a Paris court next week upholds a five-year ban from office in a separate case of alleged fake jobs in EU parliament from 2004 to 2016.
Bardella, who took over from Le Pen as RN party leader in 2022, is facing several allegations linked to his time in EU parliament.
Corruption watchdog Anticor yesterday said it was seeking a probe into allegations Bardella once held a fake assistant job in European parliament in 2015, claims his party denies.
It accuses Bardella and people close to him of providing forged documents to show he was working for the European lawmaker.
EU prosecutors are also investigating after anti-graft association AC!!Anti-Corruption alleged that funds held by members of the RN in their capacity as MEPs were used “for purposes other than those for which they were allocated”.
The association cited an article in the newspaper Le Canard Enchaine which “reveals that from September 2021” a media coach was hired to assist Bardella “not with regard to his knowledge of European current affairs but with a view to preparing for the French presidential election” the following year.
Reacting to the raids and the ongoing investigations, Jordan Bardella said: “As always, judicial proceedings herald the electoral calendar. We have nothing to reproach ourselves for, and we will demonstrate it.”
