The PfE is dominated by the French Rassemblement National (RN) and led by Marine Le Pen’s political foster son Jordan Bardella.Image: keystone
According to the results of an internal audit by the parliamentary administration, the right-wing EU parliamentary group “Patriots for Europe” (PfE) is said to have used EU funds illegally. It’s about 277,000 euros (approx. 255,000 francs) in the second half of 2024.
June 22, 2026, 04:51June 22, 2026, 04:51
This emerges from documents available to the German Press Agency. The PfE therefore particularly violated regulations on donations and procurement procedures by, for example, giving money to a club promoting futsal (indoor football) in Martinique or a quad club in Guadeloupe.
The PfE is dominated by the French Rassemblement National (RN) and led by Marine Le Pen’s political foster son Jordan Bardella. He is considered a promising possible candidate in the French presidential election if Le Pen is not allowed to run because of a conviction.
What’s next?
In the documents, the administration states that the PfE parliamentary group has already drawn conclusions and made a provision for the disputed expenses in its financial report for 2025. This enables the money to be repaid. In the next step, the EU Parliament’s Budget Control Committee must vote on a response. This could happen on Wednesday.
The violations were no accident, said Green MEP Daniel Freund, who is a member of the Budget Control Committee. Repaying the money is not enough: the European Public Prosecutor’s Office should investigate and clarify what exactly happened with the money. There must be effective sanctions against those responsible. “This culture of fraud must end,” said Freund. The PfE group initially did not comment on the violations identified. In addition to the RN, it also includes Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party and the Austrian FPÖ.
The PfE are currently the third largest group in the European Parliament with 85 members. Some of the parties were previously represented in the now dissolved right-wing national ID faction. She is also accused of irregularities in the handling of EU funds: The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating possible misuse of EU funds in the last legislative period. According to an audit report by the parliamentary administration, the amount is around 4.3 million euros. The general secretary of a parliamentary group is responsible for expenses, among others. The former general secretary of the ID group, Philip Claeys, now holds the same position at the PfE group.
Errors in awarding orders
According to the documents, PfE’s total expenditure during the period amounted to around two million euros. A large part of the disputed expenditure – almost 197,300 euros – is attributable to three incorrect tendering procedures by the French delegation in the parliamentary group. The orders benefited five companies that are financially, politically or personally connected to the RN.
According to the documents, around 54,600 euros, which were recorded as donations, went to organizations that in this case did not meet the criteria for financing by political groups in the EU Parliament: an organization promoting Flemish student traditions, an association promoting futsal (indoor football) in Martinique or a club dedicated to quad biking in Guadeloupe. The organizations had nothing to do with PfE’s political activities or information work regarding EU politics, it was said. (sda/dpa)