Le Pen announces 2027 French presidential bid despite EU funds conviction

Marine Le Pen has confirmed she will run for the French presidency in 2027, hours after a Paris appeal court found her guilty of misusing €2.8m in European Parliament funds to pay party staff. "The campaign begins tonight," she told French television, ending months of speculation that she would cede the National Rally candidacy to party president Jordan Bardella.

The court sentenced Le Pen to wear an electronic tag for a year, but she will avoid this immediate restriction by appealing to France's highest civil court, the Court of Cassation. This appeal suspends the tagging order until the top court rules, likely in early 2027. If that verdict upholds the conviction, Le Pen could be forced to campaign during the most critical phase of the election while wearing a monitoring device.

For European institutions and markets, the development introduces a high-stakes wildcard into the continent's political calendar. Le Pen's conviction centres on the systematic embezzlement of EU funds between 2004 and 2016. The prospect of a French president entering the Élysée with a criminal record for defrauding the European Parliament threatens to severely complicate Paris's relationship with Brussels, particularly given her party's longstanding opposition to the EU budget and shared fiscal rules.

Le Pen framed her candidacy as a unified front with Bardella, proposing a division of power if elected. "We have a solid partnership, we complement each other," she said, indicating she would serve as president while Bardella becomes prime minister. The two appeared together publicly on Wednesday, attempting to project stability despite the legal turbulence.

The reversal drew immediate criticism from across the French political spectrum. Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal pointed to the "moral dimension to the decision to run despite one's criminal record and a sentence for embezzlement of public funds." Othman Nasrou of the right-wing Republicans said the candidacy was "yet another reversal that damages the French people's trust in politics."

Le Pen dismissed the weight of the double conviction. When reminded she had previously predicted she would be cleared on appeal, she replied: "Everyone can be mistaken." She maintained that the final judgment rests with the electorate. "The good news from this evening is they will be free to choose," she said.