EU Parliament orders far-right Patriots to repay nearly €277,000 in misspent funds

The European Parliament has ruled that the far-right Patriots for Europe group must repay €276,967 in EU funds it misused during the second half of 2024, according to a confidential audit report seen by POLITICO. The amount will be clawed back from the group’s 2025 budget.

The Parliament’s finance department found that Patriots made improper donations totaling €54,620 to local and regional organizations, which is prohibited because EU funds must be linked to political activities at the EU level. Beneficiaries included associations promoting French and Flemish traditions, a futsal organization in Martinique, a tennis club in Guadeloupe, an Italian group promoting the Fiat Panda car, health NGOs, several rugby clubs, and a Guadeloupean quad-bike competition organizer.

Additionally, the audit flagged irregularities in three public tenders worth €197,258. Of that, €146,444 went to e-Politic, a communications firm reportedly headed by a former National Rally official. Officials found “serious concerns regarding the procedural regularity of the entire tender process.” Another €25,200 was spent on advertising in a political magazine run by a former member of Austria’s Freedom Party; Parliament deemed this a camouflaged subsidy because the magazine relies on funding from Patriots and its predecessor, the Identity and Democracy (ID) group.

The audit follows a previous probe into the now-defunct ID group, which misspent €4.3 million between 2019 and 2024. The Parliament’s budgetary control committee has asked the administration to recover that €4 million from Patriots, but the group refuses, arguing it is a separate legal entity and threatening legal action. Greens MEP Daniel Freund called for an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Patriots did not respond to a request for comment.