Searches are underway “in France and other European countries”, on suspicion of embezzlement of European funds by the group of MEPs Identity and Democracy (ID), where the French far-right National Rally (RN) party sat, the European prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.
An independent EU body responsible for combating fraud with EU funds, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office specified that it is “currently carrying out investigative measures in France and other European countries as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of European funds by a former political group in the European Parliament between 2019 and 2024”, confirming information from the French daily Le Monde.
Searches are taking place in France, Spain, Italy and Belgium, revealed The World.
These searches add to the legal turmoil of the RN: the Paris Court of Appeal must say on July 7 whether it confirms the ineligibility of Marine Le Pen, president of the RN group in the National Assembly, in the case of European parliamentary assistants. She could be prevented from being a candidate in the presidential election in France in 2027.
Officially established in 2021, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office had already announced in July 2025 the opening of an investigation into the former ID group, suspected of having “unduly spent” more than 4.3 million euros from 2019 to 2024.
“Since early this morning, searches have been underway at the headquarters and personal homes of communications providers who have worked with us,” published on the X platform the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella.
