Overview
- The Paris court of appeal on July 7 upheld Marine Le Pen’s guilt in the EU parliamentary assistants case and imposed a three‑year jail term including one year under an electronic bracelet plus a €100,000 fine and 45 months of ineligibility with 15 months already purged.
- Le Pen immediately announced she will remain the Rassemblement national candidate and lodged a pourvoi en cassation, a legal appeal that suspends execution of the sentence and allows her to campaign free of the bracelet for now.
- The Cour de cassation has signalled it will try to rule before the first round of the 2027 presidential election, a timeline that could either make the appeal judgment definitive or lead to a quashing and possible retrial.
- The RN has reassembled a Le Pen–Bardella ticket with Jordan Bardella reverting to a likely prime minister role, while opponents such as Gabriel Attal are using the conviction in campaign messaging to question her probity.
- Polling so far shows Le Pen holding a strong lead in first‑round voting intentions, but Brussels officials and analysts warn a Le Pen or RN victory would have major consequences for France’s relations with the EU and for European policy cooperation.