A French appeals court has upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but reduced her electoral ban, reopening the way for a 2027 presidential bid.
Veteran French politician Marine Le Pen has been allowed to run in the 2027 presidential election in France after an appeals court shortened her ban on holding elected office imposed last year, upholding her conviction for misusing European Parliament funds.
A three-time presidential candidate who reached the second round in 2017 and 2022, Le Pen was seen by many as a candidate to succeed President Emmanuel Macron before last year’s ruling sidelined her in the race. He has denied any wrongdoing.
On Tuesday, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld Le Pen’s sentence but reduced her five-year ban from holding elected office to 45 months, with 30 months suspended, making her eligible to stand in 2027. The court also sentenced her to three years in prison, including two years suspended, ordered the remaining year to be served under €100,000 supervision and to be placed on electronic monitoring, ($114,000). fine.
The judges said that Le Pen was already serving the ban from March 31, 2025, and said that at that time he reduced the restriction.
The case concerned European Parliament funds intended for parliamentary assistants that the court found were instead used to pay National Rally staff working in France. The decision said that the scheme caused a loss of 2.8 million Euros to the European Parliament. The National Assembly was also convicted and fined 2 million Euros, with half of that amount suspended.
French media reported that Le Pen left court without speaking to reporters and was due to give a television interview later on Tuesday.
Before the decision, Le Pen had said she would not run for president if forced to campaign under electronic surveillance, saying it would make an effective campaign virtually impossible. “Another way to prevent me from being a candidate.”
Patrick Maisonneuve, the European Parliament’s lawyer in the case, said the decision reflected that “Rights are free.”
Le Pen’s lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, called the decision “good start” and said no decision has been made regarding the appeal to the Court of Justice.
Le Pen took over the post of the National Front from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2011 and transformed the party – renamed National Rally in 2018 – into the largest opposition force in France. Its flagship, Jordan Bardella, was preparing to take his place as the party’s presidential candidate if he was barred from running. Polls have consistently placed both of them among the leading candidates for the 2027 election.
