The EELV mayor of Grenoble, Eric Piolle. (archives) – ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
The custody of the environmental mayor of Grenoble, Eric Piolle, suspected of favoritism, this Tuesday in Valence, was lifted, he announced at the exit of the premises of the judicial police who heard him in a preliminary investigation.
“There is nothing new today” briefly declared the possible presidential candidate of 2022. In 2018, the Regional Chamber of Accounts had reported to Justice “several significant irregularities” in the award of public contracts for the organization of the “Fête des Tuiles”, a popular gathering organized each year by the city since the election of Eric Piolle in 2014.
“Erasure attempt”
“There is no need to deny anything; there is a debate posed by the regional chamber of accounts, a technical debate, ”added the ecological mayor on BFM-TV. Justice “does its job. In its report published in September 2018, the regional chamber of accounts (CRC) indicated that the municipality had, against the advice of its public procurement department, twice attributed the organization of part of this party to the association “Rockets”, close to the municipal majority. For the 2015 edition, a public contract of 123,455 euros was awarded to this association.
2/2 This is a technical dispute between two public procurement procedures. One for everyday goods and services. The other for shows and artistic performances. The Regional Chamber of Accounts and the City do not have the same assessment, hence the investigation.
– Eric Piolle (@EricPiolle) June 1, 2021
“The public procurement service (…) exceptionally refused to give its visa, the procedure having been carried out by the communication department without publicity or competition,” noted the report. The CRC added that, to organize this first edition, “the town recruited members of the Fusées association, yet holder of the market (…), which is contrary to the principles of public procurement”. “Ultimately, the award of these contracts for nearly 300,000 euros HT presents several significant irregularities,” concluded the institution which depends on the Court of Auditors. This is “an ultra-technical debate” said Tuesday evening the lawyer of Eric Piolle, Me Thomas Fourrey.
“No coercive measures”
The town hall considers that these were artistic services that do not require competition – a position opposite to the reading made by the magistrates of the regional chamber of accounts. Tuesday’s hearing “was really the extension of the CRC report and the town hall’s response,” added Me Fourrey. According to him, the investigator seeks to know if the mayor of Grenoble has not put pressure on his services to accelerate the organization of this party, even if it means bypassing the regulations, an accusation that he strongly rejects, assuring that his client simply “signed an initials”.
His police custody, which began at 8:30 am for the heads of “favoritism or complicity”, “was lifted (Tuesday) at 5:45 pm without a decision having yet been taken on the direction given to this investigation. and possible legal proceedings, ”wrote the Valencia prosecutor’s office to which the case was assigned. “Mr. Eric Piolle is not subject to any coercive measure,” added prosecutor Alex Perrin in a statement. The investigation is “no longer very far” from its closure, said Eric Piolle’s lawyer.
“An arrangement between friends”
“It is clearly an arrangement between friends”, estimated Tuesday morning a former elected of the majority, by evoking “strong relations” between the councilor and the association. One of the co-founders of “Fusées” signed an appeal for support to Eric Piolle in 2014 and his association was paid to put up posters during this campaign. Eric Piolle’s lawyer denied any proximity between this association and his client.
Eric Piolle, figure of the Europe-Ecology-Les Verts (EELV) party, easily re-elected in Grenoble in 2020, lets hover the hypothesis of his candidacy for the presidential election of 2022. “Unlike others, our elected officials. neither flee nor denigrate justice ”, reacted on Twitter the leader of the Greens Julien Bayou, assuring that the decision of the city was“ perfectly legal ”. “I express my esteem and friendship to Eric Piolle. I am sure that his decision concerning the Fête des Tuiles was the right one, ”said the rebellious leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.