The campaign accounts of the candidates for the 2022 presidential election peeled

Laura Laplaud with AFP 1:29 p.m., January 27, 2023

Use of the official Twitter and Facebook accounts of the Élysée, promotion on a continuous news channel, flocking and unflocking of buses… The National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Funding scrutinized the expenses of the twelve presidential candidates of 2022. They were all approved, even if the Commission excluded certain expenses from the accounts.

The only candidate whose accounts have not been published is Marine Le Pen.

The former president of the National Rally challenges the invalidation of more than 300,000 euros of her campaign expenses before the Constitutional Council.

Reach 5% to claim a refund

Only candidates who have reached the 5% threshold can claim reimbursement of their campaign costs of up to eight million euros.

Among the highest-spending candidates, Emmanuel Macron and Valérie Pécresse come out on top with 16.69 million euros declared and 14.32 million euros respectively.

But the candidate of the Les Républicains party who obtained 4.78% of the votes in the presidential election will only be able to benefit from 800,423 euros in reimbursement.

She had also said "personally indebted to the tune of five million euros".

Only four out of twelve candidates have exceeded the 5% mark in the 2022 presidential election.

Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron sees the reimbursement of his campaign expenses cut by 100,000 euros.

Reason: the publication of his presidential candidacy on the official Twitter and Facebook accounts of the Élysée, respectively followed by 7.9 million and 4.3 million subscribers.

An "indirect advantage" and "prohibited" according to the CNCCFP. 

The CNCCFP also decided to exclude several costs, in particular some 30,000 euros paid to a photographer, a bonus which must be paid by the presidential party, according to the Commission.

On the side of the candidate's campaign team, it is emphasized that the amounts pinned only concern 1% of the costs incurred.

The Commission also did not establish a "gender mix" between the activities of the president and the candidate, welcomes the Renaissance party.

She did not find any irregularities with consulting firms last year.

Eric Zemmour

Far-right candidate Éric Zemmour received the heaviest penalty, namely 200,000 euros.

The independent authority considered that the former journalist benefited from a "promotion of his personality" thanks to the 

 program broadcast on

in which he had been involved since 2019. The Commission also criticized him for not not having paid royalties, estimated at 16,000 euros, when he had used, without authorization, images in his application video.

Marine Le Pen

She is the only candidate whose accounts, although approved, have not been published in the Official Journal.

The CNCCFP awaits the decision of the Constitutional Council, seized by the National Rally which disputes the invalidation of more than 300,000 euros of its campaign expenses.

The Commission has indeed rejected the expenses of "flocking and unflocking" of twelve coaches rented within the framework of the campaign.

Jean-Luc Melenchon

The CNCCFP has decided to reduce the "transport costs of the official campaign in Overseas" by 12,178 euros.

She also cut 15,000 euros from the reimbursement of her campaign expenses, believing that "the large number" of stickers printed on occasion, 1.2 million, was not justified.

Valerie Pécresse

The Commission imposed a penalty of 15,000 euros on candidate LR, who did not reach the threshold of 5% of the votes cast and who appealed for donations to reimburse her campaign expenses.

The organization notably noted that “eleven room rental expenses (…) were not included in the campaign account”.

The CNCCFP also focused on the role of consulting firms, its campaign manager having been a consultant for one of them.

“The Commission notes that as it stands, it has no element likely to call into question the content and scope” of the declarations of the candidate and the campaign manager”.

The other candidates

Among the other candidates, four of them did not suffer any financial penalty.

They are the iconoclast Jean Lassalle, Fabien Roussel (PCF), Anne Hidalgo (PS) and Nathalie Arthaud (LO).