Fleurpen, EU Fund Misuse Allegations One Week Before Presidential Runoff

Marine Le Pen, the National Rally (RN) candidate who advanced to the runoff in the French presidential election [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] With the French presidential election runoff just a week away, Marine Le Pen, the National Rally (RN) candidate challenging French President Emmanuel Macron, is under scrutiny as allegations have emerged that she misappropriated European Union (EU) funds, raising questions about the potential impact on the election.

On the 17th (local time), according to the daily The Guardian and others, the French investigative media outlet Mediapart reported that the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) revealed in a report that three National Rally members of the European Parliament, including candidate Le Pen and her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, misappropriated public funds amounting to 620,000 euros (approximately 830 million KRW) during their tenure as MEPs.

Of this amount, approximately 137,000 euros are estimated to have been misappropriated by candidate Le Pen. She served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017. During this period, EU public funds were allegedly used for domestic political purposes, personal expenses, and services benefiting companies close to her party. For example, Le Pen reportedly spent 5,000 euros on accommodation for 13 party members attending a conference in 2010, but reported to the European Parliament that the meeting was to discuss party leadership.

Le Pen’s camp has strongly denied the allegations. They pointed out that all parties involved deny the claims and criticized the timing of the disclosure, which concerns events over a decade old. They emphasized that the investigation began in 2016 and that Le Pen only received a written interrogation by mail in March last year. Rodolphe Bosselut, Le Pen’s lawyer, told French broadcaster BFMTV, "Marine Le Pen disputes this and has not even been able to access the specific details. This is fabrication."

The French prosecution stated that they received the report on the 11th of last month and are currently reviewing it, while an EU official said they intend to pursue reimbursement of the funds.

This is not the first time Le Pen has faced allegations of misappropriating EU funds. She was previously tried after paying EU budget funds to her bodyguard, who was involved in European Parliament-related work.

Le Pen will face President Macron in the runoff on the 24th. Recent polls suggest President Macron is likely to win by a 10 percentage point margin, but given Le Pen’s far-right stance, there may be hidden voters, and the far-left candidate Jean-Luc M?lenchon of La France Insoumise (LFI) does not actively support Macron, raising the possibility of a very close race until the end.

M?lenchon came in third with 22% of the vote in the first round on the 10th. After the first round, he urged voters not to vote for Le Pen but did not explicitly endorse Macron. In the 2017 presidential election, he also stated he would not support Macron. Recently, he said the party would make a decision after public discussion, but an internal survey showed 66% of party members intended to abstain, leading to a decision not to issue any voting guidance.