EU prosecutors have raided offices inside the European Parliament in a dramatic escalation of a long-running fraud investigation into the far-right political bloc led by France's National Rally. The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) confirmed it carried out searches in the Parliament's premises in France and Belgium on Wednesday, October 21, as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of European funds by a former political group — the now-dissolved Identity and Democracy (ID).
The searches, trending per news coverage across Le Monde, Reuters and AFP, are the second major wave in an investigation opened by the EPPO in July 2025 into the alleged misappropriation of at least 4.3 million euros in EU taxpayer money between 2019 and 2024. Investigators have focused on the group's former secretary general, Belgian national Philip Claeys, whose offices in both Strasbourg and Brussels were searched. Claeys was also questioned by EPPO investigators, according to an EU official.
What happened on Wednesday morning
The second day of the European Parliament's session in Strasbourg had just begun when investigators entered the fourth floor of the Louise-Weiss building, where the offices of the secretary general of the Patriots for Europe group are located. The search was carried out by France's Central Office for Combating Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses, and was revealed at midday by Jean-Paul Garraud, the head of the National Rally (RN) delegation in the European Parliament, in a post on X.
"Since this morning, searches have been underway at the European Parliament in Strasbourg — where we are currently located — targeting the offices of staff members of the former Identity and Democracy Group," Garraud wrote. He added: "While France's streets are descending into chaos, this seems to be the authorities' priority" — a reference to the wave of violent protests that has shaken France in recent days and led to localised curfews in cities including Paris, where police admitted losing control in some areas.
Two National Rally staffers said police raided only parliamentary staffers' offices, not those belonging to elected officials. The EPPO later confirmed: "The EPPO can confirm that it carried out searches in the premises of the European Parliament in France and Belgium as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of European funds by a former political group in the European Parliament."
Who is Philip Claeys, and why was he targeted
Philip Claeys is the central figure in the case. A Belgian national and former member of the far-right Vlaams Belang party, he became the key administrator for the National Rally's parliamentary groups in the European Parliament. He was the secretary general of Identity and Democracy, and he remains secretary general of the Patriots for Europe today — the group that replaced ID after the 2024 European elections.
As the group's secretary general, Claeys oversaw the signing of all contracts and was specifically responsible for ensuring the compliance of public tenders — an issue raised in the financial affairs directorate's internal report. A source close to the investigation confirmed to AFP that Wednesday's raids targeted him. When contacted, Claeys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Claeys has denied any wrongdoing. A year ago he told Le Monde that the parliamentary report contained "incorrect allegations," saying: "All payments made over the past five years were properly invoiced, justified and checked." He added that the independent audit firm RSM Belgium systematically certified his annual accounts and the Parliament's bureau approved them.
However, according to several internal sources at the European Parliament, the final say on contracts awarded by the French delegation belonged to ID's deputy secretary general, Thibaut François — a close adviser to RN presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and Patriots chairman Jordan Bardella, who organizes their trips abroad and still holds the role.
The 4.3 million euro question
The investigation began after a report by the European Parliament's financial affairs directorate found that Identity and Democracy had "improperly spent" 4.33 million euros in parliamentary funding between 2019 and 2024. The report highlighted donations to non-profits unrelated to the group's political activities, totalling more than 700,000 euros over five years, as well as contracts awarded — sometimes without calls for tenders — to companies close to the National Rally.
The main beneficiaries, according to the report, were Unanime and e-Politic, two firms linked to a network of figures associated with the former Groupe Union Défense, a far-right student group. Both companies regularly worked on National Rally election campaigns. Investigators visited premises used by Paul-Alexandre Martin, the founder of the communication agency e-Politic, including his home in southern France, during the first round of raids.
The financial irregularities surfaced when the ID group closed its accounts after dissolving in 2024. The Parliament's in-house financial service found that "at least" 4.3 million euros was "unduly spent" by the group during the last parliamentary term, according to an internal report. EPPO is probing whether ID made irregular donations to regional organizations in several EU countries, and whether the group breached tender rules in contracts awarded to friendly companies.
Follow-up to the June raids
Wednesday's searches followed an initial wave of raids on June 30, 2026, in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy — the first visible step in the EPPO's investigation. That first round targeted premises connected to the same network of ID-linked figures and companies.
The case took on a new edge in 2025, when the Parliament's finance department separately ordered the Patriots for Europe to give back 276,967 euros in EU funds it said the group misused during the second half of 2024, related to similar irregular tender procedures. An audit found the group made improper donations — 54,620 euros to local and regional organizations, a practice prohibited under Parliament rules — and breached procurement rules, notably in tenders for services to France's National Rally granted to companies with close ties to the party.
The Greens/EFA group in Parliament has pushed for harder consequences: Transparency International's Brussels office filed a complaint with the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), and Greens coordinator Daniel Freund said in April 2026 that "the ID group has simply rebranded itself as the 'Patriots.' The same structures, the same people, and the same potential for corruption remain in place." He added: "The far right treats the EU like a cash cow. The very people who denounce the EU as corrupt are enriching themselves at its expense."
What is Patriots for Europe
Patriots for Europe is the third-largest grouping in the European Parliament. It was formed after the 2024 European elections, when the National Rally created a new political outfit following the dissolution of Identity and Democracy. Members include France's National Rally, Hungary's Fidesz led by Viktor Orbán, Italy's Lega, Spain's Vox, Austria's Freedom Party, Belgium's Vlaams Belang and Czechia's ANO 2011. It is chaired by RN president Jordan Bardella.
The group was quick to distance itself from the investigation. In a statement on Wednesday, Patriots for Europe said there was "no legal continuity whatsoever" with the ID group and that it was "not involved in the ongoing investigations." The group added it believed the searches were linked to an embezzlement probe against the former Identity and Democracy group, whose staff largely moved over to the Patriots when it dissolved.
Vlaams Belang, meanwhile, described the searches as "a political witch-hunt by political opponents who are trying in this way to achieve what they cannot through the ballot box," saying "everything is in order" and that it was "co-operating fully."
Why this matters now
The timing is politically explosive. The raids landed while France is reeling from violent unrest — the same streets Garraud pointed to in his complaint — and while Marine Le Pen is ahead in opinion polls for next year's French presidential election, according to Reuters. The Patriots group has also been fighting a wider battle against what it calls a "firewall" imposed by centrist groups blocking it from top parliamentary jobs.
For the EPPO — the independent EU body that investigates crimes against the Union's financial interests — the case is a test of its reach. No charges have been announced, and the investigation is ongoing. But the sight of prosecutors walking through the European Parliament's own corridors, on two seats at once, underlines how seriously the 4.3 million euro trail is being taken.
The episode also lands amid a broader European backlash over living costs and migration that has fuelled protests across France, Belgium and Italy — the very grievances far-right parties have ridden to record polling. Whether the funds investigation dents that momentum, or feeds the movement's narrative of persecution, will play out in the months ahead.