Manfred Weber, the leader of the EPP group at the European Parliament, hit out at Marine Le Pen on Wednesday 1 February, accusing her of considering herself above the rules of the European institution.
The president of the ENF group and of the Front National in France has accused Parliament of putting her on 'political' trial by ordering her to reimburse the sum of €340,000 unduly received to pay the salaries of her staff.
"Marine Le Pen's accusations against the European Parliament are scandalous and unfounded. The rules of the European Parliament on the status and pay of employees apply to all 751 members of the European Parliament without exception. However, Marine Le Pen thinks that she is above the rules. This shows the true nature of the Front National", the German Christian Democrat reacted in a press release (our translation).
On Tuesday 31 January, Le Pen announced that her party would not pay back the sum of €340,000 that the European Parliament has asked her to pay by Wednesday, having found that the money was used for national purposes, even though it was supposed to be used for the European activities of the Front National. Le Pen may appeal against Parliament's order, but it will not have the effect of suspending it.
Specifically, Parliament wishes to recover salaries paid for six years to her head of cabinet, Catherine Griset, as it believes that her pay did not correspond to activities within Parliament.
The European Parliament was to write to Le Pen's lawyers on Wednesday afternoon to reiterate that the internal rules of the institution allow for 50% of her salary to be suspended from the month of February (around €3100 net), along with her entire envelope for general costs from March onwards (€4342) and 50% of her per diem payment (€306) for her attendance in Parliament.
The institution stresses that recovering money is not a one-off. In 2015, there were 109 cases of this type and 96 full or partial recovery actions, but only two cases of refusals to pay the money back. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)