Europe begins process of lifting immunity from prosecution for Ms Le Pen

The European Parliament has begun the process of lifting immunity from prosecution for French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.

» Little-known facts about potential French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen

Ms. Marine Le Pen was accused of "misusing" European Union (EU) funds.

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. Photo: AFP

French judges have asked European Union lawmakers to lift immunity from prosecution for Le Pen, a member of the European Parliament, allowing an investigation into the candidate over allegations she misused EU funds to support the activities of her far-right National Front party.

In a speech in Brussels on April 26, President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani said: “The French authorities have sent me two requests to lift the European Parliament's immunity from prosecution for Ms. Le Pen and Ms. Marie-Christine Boutonnet.

This is part of the investigation by the Paris Court into financial allegations involving these two individuals. In accordance with the European Parliament's rules, this proposal has been forwarded to the Legal Affairs Committee for decision."

This will be a disadvantage for Ms. Le Pen as she and her opponent Emmanuel Macron continue their campaign for the second round of the French presidential election which will take place on May 7.

In the first round of voting on April 23, the two French presidential candidates won the highest number of votes to enter the next round of confrontation. Mr. Emmanuel Macron won the highest number of votes with 23.75%, while Ms. Le Pen got 21.58% of the votes./.

According to VOV