The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has gone on trial on charges of embezzling money from the European parliament, in a high-profile case that could endanger her presidential ambitions.
“We have not broken any rules,” the three-time presidential candidate of the far-right National Rally (RN) said before the start of the hearings in Paris, adding that she was in a “very calm” mood.
Le Pen and a slew of senior RN figures face charges they embezzled money from the European parliament with fake jobs. If convicted, the sanctions could include jail but also a decade-long ban from public office, which would wreck Le Pen’s hopes of succeeding Emmanuel Macron as president in the 2027 elections.
The hearings risk undermining Le Pen’s winning streak after the RN achieved record scores in European elections, performed strongly in France’s early legislative vote and emerged as a kingmaker for the minority government led by the prime minister, Michel Barnier.
Le Pen, 56, who hopes to claim the French presidency on her fourth try in 2027, has said she intends to appear in court as much as possible. Twenty-four others are also defendants in the trial, which is scheduled to last until 27 November.
In the Paris dock are the RN party itself, nine former MEPs including Le Pen and the party vice-president Louis Aliot, the party spokesperson Julien Odoul – one of nine former parliamentary assistants – and four RN staff.
First flagged in 2015, the alleged fake jobs system in the RN covered contracts for parliamentary assistants between 2004 and 2016. Prosecutors say the assistants in fact worked exclusively for the party outside parliament.
Many were unable to describe their day-to-day work and some never met their supposed MEP boss or set foot in the parliament building, it is alleged.
A bodyguard, secretary, Le Pen’s chief of staff and a graphic designer were all allegedly hired under false pretences.
The misuse of public funds charges bear maximum penalties including a €1m (£830,000) fine, 10 years in prison and a 10-year bar from public office.
European parliament authorities say €3m was embezzled from the legislature.
The RN has already paid back €1m, which it insists is not an admission of guilt. The party has for years called the investigation a form of “persecution” and political abuse of the justice system.
The political scientist Nonna Mayer, of the Sciences Po university, said: “Every time the party or its leaders are attacked, it lets them cast themselves as the victim.”
The RN has capitalised on Macron’s unpopularity after he successfully cast the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections as a straight choice between him and the far right.
A shock first-place result for the RN in June’s European parliamentary elections prompted Macron to call snap legislative elections – a gamble that led to the conservative Barnier’s uncomfortable minority coalition.
Barnier could be toppled at any moment if the leftwing NFP alliance and the RN were to join forces in a vote of no confidence, putting Le Pen in a kingmaker role. Polls show the RN also enjoys increasingly committed voter support.
One RN lawmaker said to Agence France-Presse before the trial: “When I don’t see Marine worried, I’m not worried.”
Sylvain Crépon, a political scientist at the University of Tours, told AFP: “[Historically] scandals in other parties work in favour of the RN, but scandals at the RN don’t benefit other parties.”
Prosecutors say Le Pen and her father, the former party leader Jean-Marie, signed off on a “centralised system” that picked up pace in 2014. Now 96 years old, Jean-Marie Le Pen will not appear in court for health reasons.
Several people have testified about a 2014 meeting that one said discussed a clear “fake jobs” structure.
Patrick Maisonneuve, representing the European parliament as a co-plaintiff, said the RN, formerly known as the National Front, “don’t like Europe. The only thing they like is the European Union’s money.”
Evidence against the party includes contracts for periods as short as a single day to exploit spending allowances.
One message from the former party treasurer Wallerand de Saint-Just warned about its disastrous finances, writing: “We won’t get out of this without making significant savings thanks to the European parliament.”
