European Union prosecutors have opened a formal investigation into French right-wing leader Jordan Bardella and other members of his National Rally party over the alleged misuse of EU funds — a development that RN has dismissed as politically motivated and timed to damage its prospects less than a year before France’s presidential election.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to AFP that “following a preliminary review, an investigation has been opened on suspicion of fraud,” though an EPPO spokesman declined to comment further on an ongoing case. The probe stems from a complaint filed in Paris last December by anti-corruption group AC!!Anti-Corruption, which was forwarded by France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office to the EPPO for assessment.
The complaint, which cited investigative reporting by satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, alleged that from September 2021 a communications coach had been paid from European Parliament funds allocated to MEPs — but was tasked with preparing Bardella not on European affairs, but specifically for appearances linked to the 2022 French presidential election campaign. RN said in a statement that the media training had been conducted in full accordance with European Parliament rules.
Bardella, 30, was having none of it. Writing on X, he said: “We have absolutely nothing to reproach ourselves for. The association behind the complaint is a self-proclaimed far-left organisation whose aggressive statements leave little doubt as to their intentions. I filed a complaint several weeks ago for slanderous denunciation.” He pledged full cooperation with the EPPO while insisting the case amounted to politically motivated harassment. Marine Le Pen, who is appealing her own conviction for embezzlement of EU parliamentary funds in a separate case, rallied behind him, describing the investigation as a “manoeuvre” designed to “discredit” Bardella at a crucial moment ahead of the 2027 race.
The timing is not lost on observers. If an appeals court rules in July that Le Pen is barred from public office, Bardella is expected to run as the RN’s presidential candidate in her place. He is currently polling at around 35 per cent in the first round — comfortably enough to qualify for a run-off.
The investigation arrives at a moment of considerable momentum for National Rally. Despite Le Pen’s legal difficulties, the party has maintained its lead in French polls and has become the country’s dominant political force on the back of sustained public anxiety about immigration, crime and national identity. The party has also been struggling to secure financing from French banks for its presidential campaign, adding a further layer of pressure to an already turbulent pre-election period.
For critics, the EPPO probe follows a now-familiar pattern. The German anti-immigration party AfD has faced years of legal and institutional pressure, including efforts to have it formally banned, even as its poll ratings have risen steadily. In France, opponents of the RN argue the legal route has become a substitute for the political argument they have failed to win at the ballot box — a charge that RN’s growing support base appears, for now, to be receptive to.
