French Appeals Court to Rule on Embezzlement Conviction

France’s Court of Appeal is set to deliver a verdict on July 7 on whether a 2025 conviction for misuse of European Parliament funds will stand. The case centers on allegations that party aides were paid with funds allocated for parliamentary assistants between 2004 and 2016.

A Paris criminal court had ordered a five-year ban from holding elected office and a two-year house-arrest sentence with an electronic bracelet.

The initial trial followed a seven-year investigation that began after charges were filed in 2023. Prosecutors said the funds, totaling 2.9 million euros, were used for party activities rather than parliamentary work. The party was also fined 2 million euros, half of it suspended.

The defendants have maintained that the spending was legitimate and that prosecutors applied an overly narrow definition of parliamentary assistant duties.

The appeals court could uphold the conviction and the five-year office ban, which would prevent a candidacy in the April 2027 presidential election. It could also overturn the conviction or reduce the length of the office ban. If the ban is upheld, the party’s designated successor would likely stand in place of the barred candidate.

The candidate has stated that any office ban would be appealed to the Court of Cassation, which reviews legal procedure rather than facts.