Laurent Wauquiez says he is ready to reimburse the “excessive sums” spent on expensive dinners at the expense of the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region

The LR president of the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region is being singled out by a report from the regional audit office, revealed by the local press. Lavish dinners in 2022 have already earned him an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.

He says he is ready to return the money. Laurent Wauquiez, the president of the Les Républicains (LR) party in the Auvergne Rhône Alpes region, says he is ready to reimburse the “excessive amounts” spent on expensive Parisian meals which earned him a criticism from the regional audit office (CRC), in a press release from the region sent to AFP.

The controversy stems from a report by regional auditors revealed by the regional daily The Dauphiné Libéré and expected for the fall. According to the daily, this report highlights a “amalgamation between the president of the Regional Council and the regional authority” Who “can lead to incurring expenses that are not solely motivated by institutional communication logic”.

Among its grievances, the CRC “is surprised by Laurent Wauquiez’s catering expenses, particularly his numerous lunches in Paris with deputies, senators and journalists”writing The Dauphiné LibéréHe mentions total amounts of 77,180 euros for the year 2022 and 45,988 euros in 2023, and highlights a dinner in March 2022 with the writer Michel Houellebecq whose bill comes to 1,248 euros.

Contacted by AFP, the CRC declined to comment on an unpublished document. In its press release, the Region refers to “work sequences, including during meals”noting that on all of these “Working sessions organized over the last five years, the chamber makes recommendations on 15 meals”.

Quoted in this press release, Laurent Wauquiez assures that he was not “not informed of the cost of these meals”. “When I learned about it, I considered that it was not normal. So I decided to personally ensure the reimbursement of the excessive amounts”declares the president of the Republican Right parliamentary group (ex-LR). “At no time did the Regional Audit Office note any irregularities in the Region’s communications expenditure”insists the press release, which underlines that “communication expenditure in euros per inhabitant is among the lowest of all the communities monitored”representing less than 1% of the budget.

For the regional environmentalist opposition, this is a “new business” for Laurent Wauquiez, after the “summit dinners” in 2022 which have already earned him an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office. The Socialist, Ecologist and Democrat group is asking in a press release that the promise of reimbursement be “honored without delay” and criticism of “unacceptable practices, indecent in view of the difficulties of many citizens in our region”testifying “from a total loss of the sense of the common good”.