Flemish ties emerge in European Parliament spending scandal
The now-defunct far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament may have improperly spent over 4 million euros during the previous legislative term, European papers Le Monde, Die Zeit and Falter report, based on a confidential report by the European Parliament. While the French Rassemblement National, led by Marine Le Pen, is at the centre of the controversy, Flemish links also appear in the investigation.
According to the media reports, 4.3 million euros in group funds were allegedly misused. A large portion went to two companies tied to Frédéric Chatillon, a former advisor to Le Pen, and his wife.
Communications firm e-Politic received 1.7 million euros through a questionable public tender, which the report claims had “serious conformity problems”. Chatillon is a minority shareholder in the company.
Another firm, Unanime, managed by Chatillon’s wife, received over 1.4 million euros for print services. Le Monde reports that the company outsourced part of the job to a subcontractor for 260,000 euros less, raising further questions.
In addition to these contracts, the report points to donations totalling 700,000 euros to associations whose activities appear unrelated to the European Parliament. These included projects such as the sterilisation of stray cats or the renovation of a parish church, often with links to individual ID MEPs or their home constituencies.
The revelations come just months after a French court convicted Le Pen and 20 other Rassemblement National members for embezzling EU funds meant for parliamentary assistants. The party itself was also found guilty. On Thursday, Le Pen said on RTL France that she was “not aware of the new accusations”.
Flemish nationalist student group
According to Belgian weekly Knack, the Flemish nationalist student organisation KVHV appears in the report. The KVHV reportedly received 30,140 euros, a substantial sum for a student group. Until last year, the non-profit organisation KVHV Ghent was registered at the personal address of Vlaams Belang MEP Tom Vandendriessche, who also serves as chair of the KVHV’s board of directors.
Vlaams Belang, which was part of the ID group in the previous legislature, has responded to the allegations. Former MEP Philip Claeys, who was ID’s faction secretary from 2019 to 2024, denies any wrongdoing. “All payments from the past five years have been properly invoiced, justified and checked,” he told Le Monde.
The European Parliament has not yet formally commented on the leaked report, but the findings are likely to renew scrutiny of how EU party funds are managed and how national parties and affiliated organisations, including in Flanders, have made use of them.
#FlandersNewsService | Vlaams Belang's Philippe Claeys, French Marine Le Pen, Vlaams Belang's Tom Van Grieken, Steve of the US Bannon and Czechia's Radim Fiala at an event about the global compact for migration at the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, December 2018 © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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