At least 4.3 million in public funds were misappropriated by the now-dissolved far-right group ‘Identity and Democracy’ in the European Parliament during the last legislative term. This was confirmed by an internal audit report by the European Parliament’s finance department. The group, which included members of the German AfD and Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, violated applicable procurement rules and awarded contracts to companies with which they had close ties. In addition, they illegally donated funds from the group’s resources to fundamentalist Christian associations and NGOs in their members’ home countries.

In a statement adopted today, the responsible MEPs in the Budgetary Control Committee are now calling for consequences. The responsible members of the parliamentary group concerned, as well as the former leadership and external auditors, are to be held accountable for the misappropriation. In addition, the newly founded ‘Patriots for Europe’ group should be treated as the successor to the ID group, as it consists largely of the same MEPs and structures and has apparently taken over its assets. As a result, EU funding for the ‘Patriots’ group could be suspended or cancelled until all unlawfully used funds have been repaid in full.

Daniel Freund, Green Party coordinator on the Budgetary Control Committee, comments:

“The far right sees the EU as a self-service shop. The same people who otherwise rail against the supposedly corrupt EU are lining their own pockets here. This is systematic fraud against the citizens of Europe. Those who misappropriate public funds must take full responsibility: the former group leaders, the MEPs involved, but also the external auditors who waved all this through. No further EU funds should be paid to the ‘Patriots for Europe’ until the €4.3 million have been repaid. Europe’s taxpayers are saying: we want our money back.“

The full statement in the form of a letter from the Committee on Budgetary Control to the President of the Parliament can be found here (in English).