Le Pen’s case is a window into what’s wrong in EU Parliament

Ella Joyner, MDT/AP

The conviction of one of the most powerful figures of the European far right for embezzling EU Parliament funds has sent shockwaves around the continent and beyond. But Marine Le Pen’s case is just one example of transparency problems that have plagued the legislature.

From Budapest to Washington, Le Pen’s political allies cried foul over this week’s French court-mandated five-year ban on seeking political office that could block her chances of securing France’s presidency in 2027.

The longtime leader of the National Rally party and former EU lawmaker is one of 24 people convicted in Monday’s ruling in Paris for redirecting millions of euros earmarked for EU political work to serve the party’s domestic interests. The party employed staffers who were declared as EU parliamentary assistants but instead had other duties, including Le Pen’s bodyguard.

Transparency advocates say the case underlines broader issues related to lack of oversight of spending at the EU legislature affecting members across the political spectrum.

Revelations of an alleged cash-for-influence scheme dubbed Qatargate, involving high-profile center-left EU lawmakers, assistants, lobbyists and their relatives, emerged in 2022. Qatari and Moroccan officials are alleged to have paid bribes to influence decision-making. Both countries deny involvement.

No one has been convicted or is in pretrial detention. Prospects for a trial are unclear.

The EU parliament’s 720 lawmakers benefit from a pot worth around $250 million a year to pay their assistants for political work like administration, speech-writing, or studying and drafting legal proposals.

Critics have long warned that the fund is ripe for financial and political abuse. Lawmakers have often been probed by the EU anti-fraud office, OLAF.

Le Pen and her allies seek to frame her as the martyr of a politically motivated trial. Even her opponents have questioned whether it was right for the Paris court to potentially bar her from running to become the next French president. An appeals trial is expected next year that could uphold the ban, overturn it or reinforce it ahead of the 2027 election.

“This is not an isolated case of MEPs misusing their allowances,” Nick Aiossa, a campaigner from the EU office of advocacy group Transparency International, told The Associated Press. “The only exceptional thing about this case is perhaps the sheer scope of the embezzlement scheme and that ultimately there was justice and accountability at the end of the process.”

Aiossa said the convictions handed down to National Rally members and associates — many of whom were also barred from running for office — did not appear to be ‘’lawfare’’ as Le Pen’s allies allege.

The European Parliament relies on national judiciaries, principally in Belgium, and EU agency OLAF to investigate irregularities. OLAF cannot prosecute, only investigate and issue recommendations for action. In 2023, OLAF issued five recommendations linked to the EU parliament.

Once the ball passes to member states, prosecution is rare.

The European Parliament issues recovery orders for money it suspects was diverted. It did so in 2016, when it instructed UKIP and its partners to repay tens of thousands of euros it believed had been misspent. A top EU court later dismissed that order.

While the legislature tightened transparency rules somewhat in the wake of the Qatar scandal, it has repeatedly voted against significantly stepping up oversight. The launch of a new EU ethics body imposing common standards has stalled amid opposition from the largest parliamentary group, the center-right European People’s Party. [Abridged]