There is no “system”, insisted François Bayrou. Denouncing a judicial “intoxication”, the president of the MoDem contested this Tuesday in the Paris court any misappropriation of European public funds in the affair of the parliamentary assistants. “Was there a system (…) in which MEPs had to participate willingly or by force? I hope to show you that no, in no way,” declared the High Commissioner for Planning at the start of the afternoon, standing at the bar in a blue suit.
“Am I the inventor of all this? Has the president, for twenty years, developed, strategically thought out, a system of embezzling funds from the European Parliament for the benefit of the party? I hope to show you that it is unlikely,” he continued. The former Minister of Justice, 72, political ally of Emmanuel Macron, was questioned for nearly seven hours in a courtroom full of supporters and journalists, speaking for the first time since the start of the trial on October 16, where he was tried with ten centrist executives and elected officials.
“Decision maker” of the “fraudulent system”
The three-time presidential candidate is appearing for complicity by instigation in embezzlement of public funds. He is suspected of having been the “decision maker” of the “fraudulent system” which consisted, between 2005 and 2017, of using European funds to pay parliamentary assistants who in reality worked for the UDF then the MoDem, in order to relieve their finances.
At issue: 11 alleged fraudulent contracts, for a total amount of 350,000 euros – Parliament, civil party, retaining the figure of 293,000 euros. After a discussion of political history and a few quips, François Bayrou became professorial, asking to project documents from the file, citing references from a folder placed on the bar, interrupting the prosecutors’ questions.
“Who gives instructions to parliamentarians? Person ! »
The mayor of Pau maintained that the “motive” for the diversion did not hold, because the movement had “never had financial difficulty”. Its “independence” was “guaranteed” by public funding and ownership of the headquarters, valued at “15 million euros”. After the failure in the 2012 legislative elections, the party had to dismiss 16 people. But “even if it was a little tight sometimes, we never had the kind of threats that could lead us into illegality,” insisted the former minister.
The leader of the UDF and then of the MoDem refuted any right to review, within the party, the envelopes of MEPs. “No one has ever thought of giving a parliamentarian instructions for the recruitment of his assistants,” he said. “Who gives instructions to parliamentarians? Person ! »
This employee “must be transferred”
Several notes found during the investigation, however, mention the budgets of several MEPs, with the names of their assistants and the corresponding amounts. In one of them, it is written: “Mr. Morillon does not have a sufficient budget to take care of [un salarié], this must be transferred either to François Bayrou or to » Marielle de Sarnez. “I don’t know who it is and this suggestion has never been applied,” said François Bayrou. Why were these notes addressed to Marielle de Sarnez, who led the party with him? President Gérald Bégranger asked.
Because the elected official, who died in 2021, was “president of the delegation” of centrist deputies in the European Parliament and therefore had a coordinating role, argued the defendant. In long tense exchanges, the public prosecutor returned at length to the case of the employees who declared that they had not really worked for the MEPs, but rather for the party. “You are trying to insinuate that in reality these parliamentary assistants did not work for the European deputies,” launched François Bayrou. “This is false and you will find nothing in the file to prove it.”