A French appeals court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her ban on running for elected office, potentially reopening a path for the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential race, Reuters reported.
The court ruled that Le Pen serve a three-year jail term. Two years were suspended, Reuters reported, but the court ordered her to wear an electronic ankle tag for one year, making a presidential campaign politically and logistically difficult.
Le Pen was also fined €2,000,000, Reuters reported.
The ruling casts fresh doubt on whether she will seek France’s highest office next year, according to Reuters.
Paris Court of Appeal President Michèle Agi, reading out the verdict, described the facts in the case as “serious” and said they involved more than €2 million, according to France 24.
Le Pen had appealed a March 2025 ruling by the Paris Correctional Court, which found she had been at the heart of a scheme to misappropriate more than €4 million in European parliamentary funds to pay her party’s own employees, in breach of EU rules requiring such funds to be used only for staff working in Brussels. Eight other former MEPs and 12 parliamentary assistants were convicted alongside her in the original case, which had included a five-year ban on Le Pen holding public office.
(With information from Reuters)
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