Are the party’s arguments valid?

Faced with accusations of embezzlement of European public funds, the executives of the National Rally (RN) are united, with the same arguments. Sébastien Chenu, the vice-president of the RN, ensures that “not a single euro of money from the European Parliament went into the pockets of political leaders of the National Rally.” It’s true: in the case, the question is not whether or not they used the funds to enrich themselves, but whether they paid collaborators who did not exercise their functions in Brussels, but worked for the party.

In the media, RN executives also agree on a certain definition of parliamentary employees. “They are also political activists“, says Sébastien Chenu. Combining parliamentary work at the European level and activist activity in France would not be a problem. This is correct, but again, not what the party is accused of. “The problem is not so much that a parliamentary assistant has an activity (…) of putting up posters in the evening”but that “the day, its main activity, is not at the service of the MEP“, nuance Didier Blanc, specialist in European public law.

Justice seeks to determine what European money really financed. The doubts concern in particular the bodyguard of Jean-Marie then Marine Le Pen, paid as a parliamentary assistant, a function which he never exercised.

Watch the full report in the video above.