European Union prosecutors carried out raids in multiple countries this week amid a reported investigation into the French populist National Rally party and its allies in the EU parliament.
Less than a week before National Rally leader Marine Le Pen will receive the final decision on her appeal against a five-year ban from standing in elections in Europe over alleged misallocation of EU funds, it appears Brussels is seeking to derail the chances of Le Pen’s deputy and publicly stated “plan B” for the anti-mass migration party in next year’s presidential election to replace Emmanuel Macron.
While both Le Pen and her 30-year-old second-in-command both hold commanding leads in the polls, Bardella actually performs stronger in most scenarios than his mentor and three-time presidential candidate does at the moment.
Bardella, who has been publicly identified as the National Rally’s “plan B” for the 2027 presidential election, should the ban on Le Pen remain in place, revealed that party-affiliated contractors were targeted in raids by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).
According to Le Monde, searches were carried out in Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The French paper reported that the searches were related to an investigation into the former Identity and Democracy (ID) group for allegedly “improperly” spending some €4.33 million in Brussels funds to operate in the European Parliament.
This allegedly included contracts given without competitive bidding to firms with ties to the parties within the ID group, including the National Rally.
Perhaps even more significantly, Bardella said he was aware of a potential investigation into him specifically, in regard to a position he held in the EU Parliament nearly 12 years ago.
“As always, judicial proceedings herald the electoral calendar. We have nothing to reproach ourselves for, and we will demonstrate it,” the National Rally leader said.
However, the disclosure has raised concern that the European establishment may seek not only to ban Marine Le Pen from the French presidential race but also to prevent her potential replacement, fixing the forthcoming election by lawfare.
The five-year ban on Le Pen from running in any European political race — the appeal of which will conclude next week — also involved EU Parliament funding. According to prosecutors, Le Pen and others at the then National Front party had taken money provided by the EU for operations within the international parliament to fund domestic political operations in France.
Questions have been raised about the potential for selective enforcement of the rule, with a 2023 report finding that one in five Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) had broken the same rules as Le Pen and her colleagues allegedly did. However, just one out of 139 cases ever faced investigation prior to the French populist’s trial, and critics have asserted that only critics of the European Union are ever prosecuted.
Commenting on the prospect of her deputy being elected to the Élysée Palace in the case of her ban being upheld, Le Pen said on Wednesday evening that she would not repeat the attempts by her father to micro-manage decision-making after she took over the party. While she said that she has a “complementary” relationship with Bardella, she said that he would be given the “freedom” to forge his own path if necessary.
There has been some speculation that Le Pen could serve as Bardella’s prime minister should her ban remain in place. However, this would require that European prosecutors not also seek to ban Bardella from the race.