To ensure fairness and promote transparency after a succession of secret financing cases in the 1980s, candidates for the presidential office must respect since the law of 1988 a deadline and strict rules, within the framework of their campaign. Expenses are capped, scrutinized and then reimbursed according to each person’s electoral score.
Since 2007, the verification process has been supervised by an independent administrative authority, the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Funding (CNCCFP).
What are the obligations for candidates?
- Appointment of an agent
From 1is July preceding the election, or as soon as they declare themselves, candidates are required to appoint a financial agent. This association or person is responsible for opening a bank account where all election receipts and expenses are recorded. This includes sums spent on an electoral primary, meetings and travel.
- The spending cap
Candidates cannot spend ad infinitum, as the amounts are capped by decree. They are currently set at 16.85 million euros for the candidates present only
in the first round and 22.51 million euros for the finalists of the second round. If a candidate chooses to spend more, he will have to pay the Treasury the equivalent of the amount of the excess.
Other rules apply. For example, from the first day of the sixth month preceding the election (i.e. 1is October 2021 for the 2022 presidential election), parties are prohibited from investing in advertising in the audiovisual or written press.
- Supervision of public and private donations
Membership fees and donations from political parties and individuals are authorized up to a maximum of 4,600 euros per person. Any donation equal to or greater than 150 euros must be made by check, bank transfer or credit card.
Candidates can also take out loans from banks, as long as they are domiciled in the European Union. On the other hand, since 1995, companies, associations, foundations, unions and local authorities can no longer grant financial aid.
What refunds can they get?
Public aid allows candidates to reimburse part of their campaign expenses. The sum depends on the score obtained on the day of the election.
For candidates present in the first round who obtain:
- more than 5% of the votes cast, the amounts reimbursed amount to 47% of the ceilings, or approximately 8 million euros;
- less than 5% of the votes cast, the amounts reimbursed are up to 4.7% of the ceilings, the equivalent of 800,000 euros.
For the two qualified candidates in the second round, reimbursements amount to 47.5% of the ceiling, or 10.69 million euros.
How does account verification work?
To be entitled to reimbursement of their expenses, candidates must file their campaign accounts two months after the election, with the CNCCFP. In 2022, filing will be done through an online platform, according to a recent law.
The Commission verifies the supporting documents provided for each expenditure and compliance with the expenditure ceilings. Everything must be certified by an accountant. She then has the power to approve the account directly or to “reform” it, ie add or subtract certain expenses, if she has doubts about certain invoices. It can take nearly a year for the commission, assisted by rapporteurs (often magistrates and civil servants), to announce its decision.
During the previous presidential election, all campaign accounts were validated, some with “reforms”. Marine Le Pen received the highest reimbursement from the State, despite numerous irregularities in her account.
For his part, François Fillon was reimbursed a small amount. Of the 13.8 million declared expenses, 2 million come from his “personal contribution” and 10 million come from a donation from the Republicans, granted to the winner of the primary. However, according to a 2016 decision, “the amount of the fixed reimbursement paid by the State cannot exceed (…) the amount of the candidate’s personal contribution, adjusted in the light of any changes made to expenditure”. In this case, even if he received more than 5% of the votes cast, the reimbursement rule does not apply.
What happens in the event of irregularities?
If the candidates have not complied with the rules or have exceeded the filing deadlines, the CNCCFP may reject the campaign account and therefore deprive the candidate of reimbursement. However, the commission has no power of sanction. It can decide to take legal action, which may or may not pursue the investigations.
In 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy’s accounts were rejected by the CNCCFP for exceeding the ceiling. He was therefore not reimbursed for his election expenses, which reached nearly 23 million euros. The former president was sentenced to one year in prison by the Paris Criminal Court for illegal financing, after the revelations on the Bygmalion affair.
Before that, only two candidates had their campaign accounts cancelled. Jacques Cheminade, in 1995, whose accounts were rejected by the Constitutional Council (in charge of verifications before the CNCCFP), for having disguised donations from natural persons as family loans. In 2002, Bruno Mégret suffered the same fate after having mobilized municipal employees from Vitrolles to send campaign documents.
In 2018, The world, Mediapart and Franceinfo have revealed significant hidden discounts from which Emmanuel Macron benefited during his campaign. The committee ultimately ruled that “discounts granted by suppliers are normal and regular”. One of the rapporteurs in charge of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s file resigned in November 2017. He denounced the opaque functioning of the commission and a procedure “played in advance”.