The allegations against the prominent figure in the National Rally (RN) concern how the party used its assistant funds from the EU Parliament between 2004 and 2016.
The Parliament has demanded repayment of a total of around 40 million kronor, which it believes Le Pen and others instead used for entirely different purposes than what the funds were intended for.
For example, Thierry Légier was long listed as an assistant in the EU Parliament – despite actually working as a bodyguard and chauffeur for Marine Le Pen's father, party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.
May be suspended
National Rally has repaid around 10 million kronor to the EU Parliament, but claims that it has done nothing wrong and that the entire prosecution is politically motivated.
We have not broken any rules. We have enormous arguments to develop to defend what I see as parliamentary freedom, which is at stake in this affair, says Marine Le Pen herself to journalists on her way into the courtroom, according to the newspaper Le Monde.
Formally, she risks heavy fines and up to ten years in prison. But she may also face a five-year ban from public office – which would prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential election.
Not harmed?
However, there does not seem to be any great concern within the party ahead of the trial. National Rally remains strong in opinion polls and is counting on being able to present itself as a victim of the establishment during the autumn trial.
Scandals in other parties benefit RN – but when there are scandals in RN, the other parties do not benefit from it, says political scientist Sylvain Crepon at the University of Tours to the news agency AFP.
Marine Le Pen (born 1968) took over from her father Jean-Marie as party leader of the French far-right party National Front in 2011, which was renamed National Rally in 2018.
She has been a member of the French Parliament since 2017, after previously being an EU Parliament member since 2004.
Marine Le Pen has run for president three times and came third in 2012 and second in both 2017 and 2022. She is still seen as the party's main candidate for the 2027 election, even though she has handed over the formal leadership of the party to EU Parliament member Jordan Bardella.
