The European Parliament's right-wing parliamentary group Patriots for Europe (PfE) is alleged to have misused EU funds worth €277,000 ($317,000), according to an internal audit report seen by dpa.
The PfE breached regulations on donations and procurement procedures in the second half of 2024, the report states, by awarding contracts to companies with links to the group and by donating to organizations that did not meet the parliament's funding criteria.
The PfE is dominated by France’s Rassemblement National (RN) and led by Marine Le Pen’s political protégé, Jordan Bardella, who is regarded as a promising potential candidate in next year's French presidential election.
According to the European Parliament's administration, the PfE group has already set aside a provision in its 2025 financial amount to allow for the disputed sum to be repaid.
The parliament's budgetary control committee is to vote on the matter on Wednesday.
German EU lawmaker Daniel Freund, who is a member of the budgetary control committee, called for an investigation by the European Public Prosecutors's Office (EPPO) and sanctions for those responsible.
"This culture of fraud must come to an end," said Freund.
The PfE group is with 85 lawmakers the third-largest group in the European Parliament. In addition to the RN, other member parties include Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party and the Austrian FPÖ.
Some of the PfE's members were previously represented in the now-dissolved right-wing nationalist Identity and Democracy (ID) Group.
ID faces allegations of irregularities in the handling of EU funds with an audit report alleging the group to have misused around €4.3 million in European Union funds.
