the campaign accounts of the twelve approved candidates

The National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing (CNCCFP) has approved the accounts of the twelve presidential candidates of 2022, despite some financial sanctions and subject to an appeal filed by Marine Le Pen, according to a press release published on Friday 27 January.

The independent authority in charge since 1990 of the control of the expenses and the receipts of the candidates published 11 accounts out of 12, pending the decision of the Constitutional Council seized by the candidate RN who contests the invalidation of more than 300,000 € of his campaign expenses.

The heaviest sanctions for Éric Zemmour and Emmanuel Macron

Far-right candidate Éric Zemmour received the heaviest penalty, €200,000. The Commission considered that thanks to his program “Face à l’info” on CNews, he had benefited, when he had not yet officially declared himself, from “a promotion of his personality”. She also criticized him for not having paid royalties, estimated at €16,000, when he had used, without authorization, images in his application video.

Emmanuel Macron sees the reimbursement of his campaign expenses cut by €100,000. Reason: the publication of his presidential candidacy on the official Twitter and Facebook accounts of the Élysée, an “indirect advantage” and “prohibited” according to the CNCCFP. For the other candidates, the penalties did not exceed €15,000.

Four candidates above 5%

During the investigation, the Commission excluded certain expenditure from the accounts. This is particularly the case for Marine Le Pen: the CNCCFP rejected the “flocking and unflocking” expenses of twelve coaches rented as part of the campaign (approximately €300,000). Candidate RN filed on January 18, two days before the deadline, an appeal on this issue before the Constitutional Council.

The Commission noted the very significant difference in reimbursement between the candidates, particularly painful for those who arrived just below 5%, like Valérie Pécresse. Those who have reached the 5% threshold can indeed claim reimbursement of up to eight million euros, against ten times less (€800,423) for those who have remained below. Only four out of twelve candidates have exceeded the 5% mark in the 2022 presidential election.

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