After six months of examination by some 45 mobilized auditors, the decisions of the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing (CNCCFP) have just been published in the Official Journal this Friday.
For Jean-Philippe Vachia, president of the institution, one of the first lessons to be learned - in addition to the approval of all the accounts of the candidates - relates to the amount of the total expenditure of the candidates, namely 83,487,411 million euros. euros.
"
It's a little more than 2017
", he observes, recalling that the 2022 presidential election opposed 12 candidates against 11 during the previous edition.
In the table relating the revenue and expenditure figures for each candidate, the line concerning Marine Le Pen is not complete.
The candidate of the Rassemblement having lodged an appeal against a decision of the commission - she disputes the non-integration of certain poster expenses on the buses of her campaign -, it will be necessary to wait for the conclusions of the Constitutional Council to include her accounts in the summary global.
In the meantime, the available data reveal great caution on the part of the candidates because all of them are well below the ceilings authorized for the campaigns of the first and second ballots.
The two finalists, Emmanuel Macron (16.6 million) and Marine Le Pen (11.4 million) are far from reaching the 22.5 million euros in expenditure authorized in the second round.
As for the ten other competitors in the first round, they do not reach the maximum of 16.8 million euros authorized.
“
Even if there are still irregularities, we observe a greater vigilance of the candidates.
This had already manifested itself in 2017 but it is undoubtedly even more significant in 2022
”, notes Jean-Philippe Vachia, before putting forward at least two explanations for this degree of caution.
The first would come from a desire to no longer play with fire, after the rejection of Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign accounts in 2012. Another possible reason: "
candidates target their budget according to the reimbursement they expect
", according to the boss of the CNFFP.
Finally, there remains the evolution of the nature of electoral expenditure, marked today by a drop in the importance of meetings - even if the campaign of
Note that the filing of campaign accounts on a digital platform, as was set up for the 2022 presidential election, was a first.
The CNCCFP, which had experimented with a tool called "Fin'pol", makes a rather positive assessment of this experience.
To the point that she wishes to perpetuate it, as Jean-Philippe Vachia had the opportunity to express it directly to the President of the Republic last July.
"
In terms of control, it's a big improvement
," he says.
Zemmour and Macron lead the penalties
Regarding the most recurrent irregularities, the commission found the usual shortcomings of campaign accounts: include the cost of acquisition of certain equipment - telephone, computers, etc. - without limiting itself to the use value;
unjustified or untraceable movements;
catering costs unrelated to political demonstrations;
accounting inaccuracies...
Beyond these classic errors, the CNCCFP also wanted to take a close look at new practices such as those of social networks and digital campaigns.
A cell has been created specifically for these checks.
“
It allowed us to follow the events and inform us about the tools used by the candidates.
So many costs that we had to find in their campaign accounts
, ”specifies the head of the institution.
For example, the commission looked in particular at the use made of these networks by Emmanuel Macron, considering that they should have been included in his campaign account.
"
Overall, the (president-)candidate reimbursed his expenses to the tune of more than 500,000 euros with his campaign account but there were still things missing, in particular concerning social networks,
”observes the president.
With 24 reports to the commission (made by rivals or ordinary citizens), Emmanuel Macron's candidacy exceeds all his competitors.
The accounts of the president-candidate also collected 100,000 euros in penalties, which places him in second position – in absolute value – behind those of the nationalist Éric Zemmour, hit by 200,000 euros in penalties.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) and Valérie Pécresse (LR) collected 15,000 euros each in penalties.
All the candidates underwent more or less notable corrections.
For example, the ecologist Yannick Jadot had borrowed nearly 6 million from the Greens, who had taken out a bank loan.
Having obtained less than 5% in the first round, the candidate was unable to collect a reimbursement from the State of an equivalent amount.
In fact, the commission was obliged to remove more than 90,000 euros of interest linked to this loan since the loan was transformed into a definitive contribution from the Greens.
Consulting firms: the candidates defend themselves
Concerning Valérie Pécresse, who had not reached the 5% mark in the first round either, the main problems raised are linked to the real estate expenses of her campaign premises, which the commission deemed too high.
Note that the Republican candidate, like Emmanuel Macron and Anne Hidalgo (PS), was invited to clarify certain points on the use of consulting firms.
Valérie Pécresse assured that "
no consulting firm or consultant
" had intervened, specifying that his campaign manager (Patrick Stefanini, editor's note) had "
completely withdrawn
" from his activities as "senior advisor" at the within the firm Lysios.
For his part, Emmanuel Macron also denied any involvement of such firms.
"
Among the many activists who have committed themselves to the campaign on a voluntary basis, whether at local or national level, in the field or in reflection, some of them who could have had a professional commitment within cabinets of council did it on their free time and within the framework of a personal political commitment
", assured the president-candidate.
The CNCCFP considered that in "
the state
", it did not have any element "
of such a nature as to call into question the content and scope
of these statements.
This, while the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) recently opened several judicial investigations into the campaign accounts of the presidential elections of 2017 and 2022, following in particular reports on the links between Emmanuel Macron and McKinsey.
Regarding Éric Zemmour's accounts, the commission noted a “
series of omitted expenses
”, as well as three main subjects: his services on CNews – considered as “irregular in-kind competition for legal persons” -;
an unencrypted video;
and wild posting.
This resulted in 200,000 euros in penalties – or “
modulations
”, according to the official terms of the National Commission for Campaign Accounts.
“
These are the most important modulations since this possibility of modulation was recorded within the commission ten years ago.
“, concludes the president Jean-Michel Vachia.
He recognizes that on this point, the supervisory authority is becoming more and more radical.
Never have penalties of 200,000 euros (Éric Zemmour) or 100,000 euros (Emmanuel Macron) been imposed on presidential candidates.