The EU Parliament has transparency problems. Marine Le Pen's case is a window into what's wrong

The conviction of one of the most powerful figures of the European far right for embezzling EU Parliament funds has sent shockwaves around the continent and beyond. But Marine Le Pen's case is just one example of transparency problems that have plagued the legislature.

From Budapest to Washington, Le Pen’s political allies cried foul over this week's French court-mandated five-year ban on seeking political office that could block her chances of securing France's presidency in 2027.

The longtime leader of the National Rally party and former EU lawmaker is one of 24 people convicted in Monday's ruling in Paris for redirecting millions of euros earmarked for EU political work to serve the party's domestic interests. The party employed staffers who were declared as EU parliamentary assistants but instead had other duties, including Le Pen's bodyguard.

Transparency advocates say the case underlines broader issues related to lack of oversight of spending at the EU legislature affecting members across the political spectrum.

Revelations of an alleged cash-for-influence scheme dubbed Qatargate, involving high-profile center-left EU lawmakers, assistants, lobbyists and their relatives, emerged in 2022. Qatari and Moroccan officials are alleged to have paid bribes to influence decision-making. Both countries deny involvement.

No one has been convicted or is in pretrial detention. Prospects for a trial are unclear.

Last month, several people were arrested in a probe linked to the Chinese company Huawei, which is suspected of bribing EU lawmakers. Huawei said it took the allegations seriously and had a “zero tolerance policy towards corruption.”

Last year, the aide of prominent far-right EU lawmaker Maximilian Krah was arrested in a separate case. German prosecutors alleged the aide was a Chinese agent. Krah, who has since switched to the federal legislature of his native Germany, denied all knowledge of the suspicions against his former employee.

The EU parliament’s 720 lawmakers benefit from a pot worth around $250 million a year to pay their assistants for political work like administration, speech-writing, or studying and drafting legal proposals.

Critics have long warned that the fund is ripe for financial and political abuse. Lawmakers have often been probed by the EU anti-fraud office, OLAF.

Some parliamentarians have no assistants. Most have around five or six. At the time Le Pen was implicated, some members had dozens.

Her 29-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella – who could replace her on the French presidential ballot in 2027 – has three assistants. Some carry out parliamentary work in the Belgian and EU capital Brussels or the French city Strasbourg, where the legislature convenes. Others work in a parliament member's home country.

Only two rules seem to apply: Family members cannot be hired, and assistants should focus on EU business and not work against the legislature’s interest. But the assembly has no clear system for enforcing the rules.

Le Pen and her allies seek to frame her as the martyr of a politically motivated trial. Even her opponents have questioned whether it was right for the Paris court to potentially bar her from running to become the next French president. An appeals trial is expected next year that could uphold the ban, overturn it or reinforce it ahead of the 2027 election.

“This is not an isolated case of MEPs misusing their allowances,” Nick Aiossa, a campaigner from the EU office of advocacy group Transparency International, told The Associated Press. “The only exceptional thing about this case is perhaps the sheer scope of the embezzlement scheme and that ultimately there was justice and accountability at the end of the process.”

Aiossa said the convictions handed down to National Rally members and associates — many of whom were also barred from running for office — did not appear to be ‘’lawfare'' as Le Pen's allies allege.

“I think what we see is an independent judiciary ruling on a very extensive, almost decades-long investigation into pretty latent embezzlement,” he said.

The European Parliament relies on national judiciaries, principally in Belgium, and EU agency OLAF to investigate irregularities. OLAF cannot prosecute, only investigate and issue recommendations for action. In 2023, OLAF issued five recommendations linked to the EU parliament.

Once the ball passes to member states, prosecution is rare.

The European Parliament issues recovery orders for money it suspects was diverted. It did so in 2016, when it instructed UKIP and its partners to repay tens of thousands of euros it believed had been misspent. A top EU court later dismissed that order.

While the legislature tightened transparency rules somewhat in the wake of the Qatar scandal, it has repeatedly voted against significantly stepping up oversight. The launch of a new EU ethics body imposing common standards has stalled amid opposition from the largest parliamentary group, the center-right European People’s Party.

Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.

FILE - Leader of the French far-right National Rally Marine Le Pen, left, and Jordan Bardella, lead candidate of the party for the upcoming European election, right, are seen during a political meeting on June 2, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)

FILE - Members of European Parliament enter the plenary chamber as they prepare to vote at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Thursday, July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)

FILE - Germany's Maximilian Krah, of the German far-right Alternative for Germany party, grimaces during a session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)

FILE -Security officers and investigators gather in a corridor after searching the offices of German MEP Maximilian Krah and his assistant Jian G, a German national who had worked for Krah, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday May, 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

FILE -Seals are pictured on the office door of European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday Dec 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)

FILE -Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage speaks during a media conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

FILE -Two people look at their cellphones in front of the Huawei logo during a DigitALL lunch talk in Brussels, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

FILE - A man wears a suit in the EU colors as he walks outside the European Parliament during Europe Day celebrations in Brussels on Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen at the National Assembly, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

Hours before college basketball crowns its next champion, the future of college sports will be hanging in the balance in a California courtroom.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken's scheduled hearing Monday in a courtroom in Oakland is expected to be the last one before the changes will truly begin under an industry-changing, $2.8 billion settlement of a 5-year-old lawsuit against the NCAA and the nation's largest conferences. Among other things, it will clear the way for schools to share up to $20.5 million each with their athletes.

Wilken already has granted preliminary approval for the settlement. It was unknown whether she will give final approval at Monday's hearing, which is expected to include testimony from some of those objecting to details of the sprawling plan. LSU gymnast and influencer Olivia Dunne is among the 18 people scheduled to testify, though she is expected to appear via Zoom.

The new structure outlined by the settlement, which represents a shift in billions of dollars from the schools into the pockets of athletes, is supposed to go into effect on July 1.

Universities across the country have been busy making plans, under the assumption Wilken will put the terms into effect.

“We're going to have a plan going into July 1, then we're probably going to spend the next year figuring out how good that plan is and how we need to modify it going forward,” said Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin, whose department is among the biggest in the country and includes a Gators men's basketball team playing for the national title Monday night against Houston.

The so-called House settlement, named after Arizona State swimmer Grant House, actually decides three similar lawsuits that were bundled into one. The defendants are the NCAA and the Southeastern, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast, Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences, all of whom have been touting the settlement as the best path forward for their industry.

“It's a huge step forward for college sports, especially at the highest level," said NCAA President Charlie Baker, whose organization continues to seek antitrust protections from Congress. “My biggest problem with the way the whole thing works right now is the schools have been removed from the primary relationship with the student-athletes.”

The most ground-shifting part of the settlement calls on schools from the biggest conferences to pay some 22% of their revenue from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships — which equals about $20.5 million in the first year — directly to athletes for use of their name, images and likeness (NIL).

Still allowed would be NIL payments to athletes from outside sources, which is what triggered the seismic shift that college sports has endured over the last four years. For instance, Cooper Flagg of Duke reportedly makes $4.8 million in NIL deals from groups affiliated with the school and others.

The settlement calls for a “clearinghouse” to make sure any NIL deal worth more than $600 is pegged at “fair market value." It's an attempt to prevent straight “pay for play” deals, though many critics believe the entire new structure is simply NIL masquerading as that.

Another key element is the $2.8 billion in back damages to athletes who played sports between 2016 and 2024 and were not entitled to the full benefits of NIL at the time they attended schools. Those payments are being calculated by a formula that will favor football and basketball players and will be doled out by the NCAA and the conferences.

The settlement also calls for replacing scholarship limits with roster limits. The effect would be to allow every athlete to be eligible for a scholarship while cutting the number of spots available.

There will be winners and losers under such a formula, though some fear it could signal the end of the walk-on athlete in college sports and also imperil smaller sports programs that train and populate the U.S. Olympic team.

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Florida's Alijah Martin (15) dunks the ball against Auburn during the second half in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

UConn center Jana El Alfy (8) and UConn guard Paige Bueckers (5) react during the first half of a national semifinal Final Four game against UCLA during the women's NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford (0) moves on the court against Michigan State during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)