Searches on the European far-right

The most important sovereigntist parties in Europe, which were part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) political group during the period 2019-2024, are accused by the European Public Prosecutor's Office of embezzling 4.3 million euros of European funds, and prosecutors have carried out several searches in recent days at the headquarters of the respective political groups in France, Belgium, Italy and Spain, according to information published by the France 24 website, Reuters and Politico.

The investigation concerns how the European funds allocated to the ID parliamentary group were used during the period 2019-2024, before it was dissolved following the European elections in June 2024 and replaced by the new group "Patriots for Europe". According to the EPPO statement, prosecutors are conducting investigative measures in several European countries as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of EU funds by the former political group in the European Parliament. Although the institution did not provide details on the individuals or organizations targeted, citing the confidentiality of the proceedings, the scale of the operation indicates that the investigation has entered a significant stage.

Among the groups that made up the Identity and Democracy group were the French party Rassemblement National (RN), the political group of Marine Le Pen, currently led by Jordan Bardella, the League (Lega) in Italy and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), along with other Eurosceptic and nationalist parties in the European Union. The ID group represented, until the 2024 European elections, the main pole of the far right in the European Parliament, promoting policies against immigration, limited European integration and a strengthening of national sovereignty.

The suspicions of the European prosecutors stem from a draft audit report of the European Parliament, the conclusions of which were revealed last year by the publications Le Monde, Die Zeit and Kontraste. According to the document, more than 4.3 million euros of European funds allocated to the ID group were allegedly spent improperly between 2019 and 2024. The report allegedly indicates the existence of fictitious contracts for the provision of services, procurement procedures that did not comply with European rules on competition and transparency, as well as financial transfers to organizations without parliamentary activity, but close to leaders of the European far right, including the party led by Marine Le Pen. At this point, however, no politician or civil servant has been formally charged, and all those involved benefit from the presumption of innocence. The formal investigation of the EPPO was opened in July 2025, after information emerged regarding the alleged misuse of the 4.3 million euros. The searches now carried out represent the first visible step of an investigation that, for almost a year, has been conducted largely out of public view.

Jordan Bardella reacted immediately after the operation was launched. The leader of the Rassemblement National and currently the president of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, announced on the X platform that searches had taken place at the headquarters and homes of communication service providers that collaborated with his party. He did not confirm the existence of raids on the RN headquarters, but claimed that the authorities' action represented "a new harassment operation by the European Parliament administration”.

"I believe that no one is fooled by this type of operation”, declared Bardella at a press conference held in Strasbourg, reiterating the position expressed since 2025, when he had qualified the opening of the investigation as a political action directed against his party.

However, this position is implicitly rejected by the institutional structure of the investigation. The European Public Prosecutor's Office is an independent institution of the European Union, created specifically to investigate fraud affecting the European budget and cooperates with the judicial authorities of the member states, without being subordinated to the European Parliament.

The former secretary general of the Identity and Democracy group, Philip Claeys, has also denied the existence of any irregularities. He previously told the French press that all payments made in the last five years had been properly invoiced, justified and verified, claiming that the group's financial activity was carried out in accordance with the rules of the European Parliament.

The timing of the searches, however, has a strong political charge. The Rassemblement National is going through the most favorable electoral period in its history. Most opinion polls indicate that the group would win the first round of the french presidential elections in 2027, after years in which the far right has steadily consolidated its electoral support. However, the candidacy of the party's traditional favorite, Marine Le Pen, is threatened by another case concerning the alleged fraudulent use of European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016, through the fictitious employment of parliamentary assistants. In that case, a Paris court ruled to convict her and ban her from holding public office for five years, a decision that is being appealed. If the appeal court upholds the sanction, Marine Le Pen will not be able to run for president, and Jordan Bardella would become the natural candidate of the RN.

The new investigation into the funds of the Identity and Democracy group therefore comes at a time of maximum sensitivity for the French far right, even though the two cases are completely separate and concern different periods. The first concerns alleged fictitious hiring of parliamentary assistants between 2004 and 2016, while the current investigation is looking into how the ID parliamentary group's funds were spent between 2019 and 2024.

If the suspicions raised by the European Parliament's auditors are confirmed by the EPPO investigation, the case could become one of the most important investigations into the financing of European political groups in recent years. On the other hand, if the allegations cannot be proven, far-right leaders will likely use the case to bolster their narrative that European institutions are trying to prevent the rise of sovereignist parties.