Court proceedings open in Paris

Former French prime minister François Bayrou and ten former officials from the Democratic Movement (MoDem) appeared before the Paris Court of Appeal on Wednesday, 9 September. The retrial follows an appeal by public prosecutors against Bayrou's acquittal in February 2024. Bayrou arrived at the courtroom at 13:15, where the opening session focused on procedural reviews and the formal reading of charges against the defendants. The European Parliament has joined the case as a civil party seeking restitution for parliamentary allowances. Patrick Maisonneuve, the attorney representing the European Parliament, noted that the appeals process reopens all legal questions surrounding the party's management.

“That means we start from zero. Everything is possible in one direction or the other.”

The charges and previous verdicts

The case centers on allegations that MoDem and its predecessor, the Union for French Democracy (UDF), used European Parliament funds to pay party employees between 2005 and 2017. Prosecutors allege that around ten parliamentary assistant contracts were diverted to support domestic political operations rather than legislative work in Brussels. The financial loss to the European Parliament is estimated at approximately 300,000 euros. In February 2024, the Paris criminal court convicted five former members of the European Parliament and imposed fines on the political parties, but cleared Bayrou after finding no direct written proof that he ordered the illicit contracts. Prosecutors immediately appealed that acquittal, arguing that Bayrou acted as the primary decision-maker.

Co-defendants and hearing schedule

Ten former party cadres stand trial alongside Bayrou, including 79-year-old former justice minister Michel Mercier, who received an 18-month suspended prison sentence at the original trial. Former MoDem vice-president Jean-Luc Bennahmias, who held his party post from 2007 to 2014, is also among the defendants answering the embezzlement charges. Presiding judges opened the substantive review of the case facts at 15:00 on Wednesday following initial procedural verifications. The court has scheduled Bayrou's personal interrogation for 24 September. The entire appeal trial is scheduled to run through 5 October, with daily sessions examining employment records and party communications.

Political context and defense arguments

Bayrou maintains that he had no knowledge of any fraudulent arrangements made by individual European lawmakers within his movement. The proceedings arrive exactly one year after his departure from the prime minister's office at Matignon, following earlier political setbacks including a municipal election defeat in Pau in March. Bayrou, who remains the president of MoDem, has already confirmed that he will not run as a candidate in the upcoming presidential election. Speaking to reporters during a court recess on Wednesday, Bayrou reiterated that the charges against him lack factual basis.

“I am deeply confident that the Court of Appeal will take into account the same elements and confirm the judgment. That is the state of mind we are in. All these accusations, we will prove it, are unfounded.”