BRUSSELS ― The far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament breached spending rules to the tune of at least €4.3 million, according to a confidential report obtained by POLITICO. Lawmakers are exploring how to claw back the money.
The report, drawn up by the Parliament’s finance department, says the group, political home of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and Alternative for Germany, breached public tender rules in awarding public contracts and gave out irregular donations between 2019 and 2024.
What makes the affair complicated is that the ID group dissolved after the European election last year, with a majority of its members and staff absorbed into the new Patriots for Europe group. The Parliament’s budgetary control committee is exploring whether the new organization can be held liable.
“Rebranding or dissolving a political group cannot be used to dodge debts and misuse funds,” said Niclas Herbst, chair of the budgetary control committee. “It is extremely important that we hold accountable those responsible. If money was unduly spent, we want it back.”
When contacted by POLITICO, the Patriots group published a rebuttal on social media. It said it was the victim of a politically motivated “witch hunt” and that it isn’t the same legal entity as ID, whose accounts from previous financial years had already been closed.
“We will fight it in court if necessary,” said a Patriots official, granted anonymity to speak about sensitive matters. “We have very good lawyers, and we are sure we are right.”
But the budgetary control committee, which is made up of MEPs from across the political spectrum, wants the Parliament to start the process of recovering the funds, according to a letter to the Parliament’s leadership that the committee will approve on Thursday and seen by POLITICO.
The committee also wants bosses to look into the financial liabilities of individual staffers and MEPs for “intentional or gross-negligent authorization of irregular expenditure,” according to the letter.
A final decision would be taken by the Parliament’s 14 vice-presidents, known as the Bureau.
The EU’s public prosecutor (EPPO) confirmed to POLITICO that it is conducting its own investigation into mismanagement of funds.
Public contracts for friends and irregular donations
The alleged misspending relates to the budget allocated annually by the Parliament for political groups to spend on administrative and operative costs, as well as political and information activities related to its work, known in Parliament lingo as “budget item 400.”
The financial audit, first reported by Le Monde, says the group breached the public tender rules when awarding contracts for advertisements, community management, and printing services in several companies in Austria, France, and Germany, totaling about €3,598,803.
“The tender procedure was conducted as a purely formal exercise, without showing the intent to have a choice of offers to select the best possible provider,” the report says.
The report also alleges public contracts may have been awarded to companies friendly to the party.
In one case, contracts for ads in an Austrian magazine were directly awarded to a company led by a former MEP of the Austrian FPÖ party, a member of the ID group and current member of Patriots, the report says.
“It shows that the position as service provider for the ID Group was not a result of the application of the rules in place, but of a purely subjective request of the Austrian delegation, which was not validated against the applicable rules,” the report says.
The report also alleges the ID group created a system for its members to donate to NGOs and other charities, including by illegally creating a new budget line, accounting for €701,197 between 2019 and 2024.
Yet, in correspondence with the department of finance in the runup to the final report, the ID’s former secretary-general Philip Claeys ― who now holds the same position in the Patriots group ― has repeatedly defended the donations as being within the Parliament’s legal framework, and that public procurement also followed the rules.
The investigation represents a fresh blow to the National Rally, after Le Pen herself was found guilty of illegally siphoning more than €4 million in European Parliament funds over 12 years to pay for party employees in a separate case, jeopardizing any attempt to become next French president.
European Parliament wants back €4M it says far-right group misspent
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