PARIS — A Paris appeals court set a verdict date of July 7 for Marine Le Pen in her European Union misuse of funds case, a crucial decision which could derail the far-right leader’s presidential bid.
The five-week trial ended Wednesday.
Le Pen, 57, is challenging a March 2025 verdict that found her and other members of her National Rally party guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016.
She denies accusations that she was at the center of a fraudulent system meant to siphon off EU funds.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Marine Le Pen’s appeal trial over alleged misuse of European Parliament funds is ending Wednesday with one question looming above all others: will the French far-right leader be able to run for president next year?
Le Pen, 57, is challenging a March 2025 verdict that found her and over 20 other members of her National Rally party guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016 and banned her from holding elected office for five years.
She denies accusations she was at the center of a fraudulent system meant to siphon off European Union funds.
The outcome of the appeal trial will be announced at a later date, likely before summer.
Here’s why the outcome of the five-week trial at the Paris appeals court may change the course of France’s 2027 presidential election.
Le Pen was widely seen as a top contender to succeed centrist President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until a Paris court banned her from holding office over charges of misusing public money.
She was twice a contender in the run-off against Macron in 2017 and 2022 and her National Rally party has been coming out on top in opinion polls in recent years.
The appeal trial is a second chance to win an acquittal that would clear her path to the presidential race.
If convicted, Le Pen could be sentenced to a ban on holding an elected office. In that case, she has said, her 30-year-old protege Jordan Bardella would run instead.
Bardella’s popularity has surged in recent years, but some observers have pointed to his relative lack of experience, especially with international and economic affairs, as a potential weakness for a presidential bid.
Le Pen is joined in her appeal by 10 other officials