On Wednesday, the Lyon administrative court ordered Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, to transmit to the socialist opposition the list of guests for the “summit dinner” organized in June 2022
The elected official had fifteen days to communicate the names of some 90 guests invited to a castle at a cost of more than 100,000 euros – or more than 1,100 euros per guest, meals and rental included, according to revelations from Mediapart. But the region immediately replied that it was going to “appeal this decision”.
A “missed” opportunity to “bring transparency to this matter”
Laurent Wauquiez, who has always refused to communicate any information on this matter to the opposition “missed an opportunity to be transparent about this matter. If he does not show the documents it is because there is a wolf,” said socialist regional councilor Johann Cesa, who initiated the request.
The elected official has been asking for several months for proof of expenses to find out if the Region participated financially in this dinner and if other similar events have been organized or planned.
The administrative court rejected these requests, following the argument of the defense, for which such documents do not exist or are covered by the secrecy of the investigation. The presidency of the Region had indicated to Mediapart having taken the bill “100% at your own expense” without specifying from what budget. According to the online media, a service provider had presented an invoice for 48,000 euros including tax for the organization of this dinner.
A mixed victory for the opposition
This judgment was therefore a mixed victory for the socialist opposition in the Regional Council: its other requests, notably concerning proof of expenses, targeted by an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), were rejected, despite a favorable opinion of the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (Cada) in January 2023.
The administrative court considered that the list of guests for the June 2022 dinner could be communicated since the guests were not directly concerned by the PNF investigation, this would not affect the smooth running of the current procedure.
It was following the revelations of Mediapart on this file and a report from the opposition group EELV, that the PNF opened a preliminary investigation in December 2022 “for favoritism, concealment of favoritism and embezzlement of public funds”, followed by of a search in February 2023 at the regional headquarters in Lyon.