On Wednesday, the far-right group Patriots for Europe (PfE), the third-largest alliance of parties in the European Parliament, said investigators searched administrative offices in the European Parliament buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg. PfE said the searches likely relate to an ongoing investigation into the alleged misuse of funds by members of the now-disbanded Identity and Democracy (ID) Group.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), an independent body that investigates and prosecutes offences against the EU budget, including corruption and misuse of EU funds, confirmed it conducted operations in France and Belgium. The investigation concerns the use of European Union funds by a former group in the European Parliament. The EPPO has not disclosed which group is involved and said it will not release further information at this time to protect the integrity of the investigation.
“Since this morning, searches have been underway within the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where we are located, targeting the offices of staff members of the former Identity and Democracy group, now dissolved, of which the RN was a member,” Jean-Paul Garraud, President of the RN (National Rally) delegation of MEPs in the European Parliament, wrote on X.
Patriots for Europe formed from the remnants of the ID group after the 2024 European Parliament elections, which changed its membership. The ID group included parties such as France’s National Rally, Italy’s Lega, Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ), the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), and Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD), which was expelled in 2024, among others. After ID’s dissolution in 2024, many staff members moved to the newly established PfE Group.
While PfE retained ID’s core parties as the foundation of its structure, it also welcomed several new members, including Viktor Orbán‘s Fidesz, the Czech party ANO led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Spain’s VOX, and Portugal’s Chega. In its statements, Patriots for Europe clarified that it was not involved in any ongoing investigations related to the dissolved ID group.
“The Patriots for Europe Group emphasises that there is no legal continuity with the ID Group and that it is not involved in the ongoing investigations,“ it said.
European Parliament auditors found that members of the ID Group misused at least €4.3 million in EU funds during the 2019-2024 legislative term. The funds were directed to companies affiliated with the group and organisations supporting anti-abortion campaigns. This case is separate from Marine Le Pen‘s conviction, which had threatened her presidential ambitions.
The PfE group holds 85 seats in the 719-seat European Parliament, but it trails the centre-right European People’s Party (184 seats) and the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (135 seats).
