For a small nonprofit like Cats 64, which specializes in sterilizing stray cats in the southwestern French city of Pau, every source of income is welcome. So, when the association's treasurer learned from her housekeeper, in 2022, that "it's possible to request money from MEPs," she didn't hesitate. She filled out a form and, some time later, received a check for €1,500 signed by a member of the European Parliament from the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party.

What she probably didn't know was that the donation did not stem from the personal generosity of an elected official sensitive to the plight of stray cats: It was drawn from funds allocated for the administrative and operational expenses of the European parliamentary group to which the RN and its allies were affiliated. In a confidential report obtained by Le Monde, the European Parliament's Directorate-General for Finance (DG FINS) accuses now-defunct Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which comprised around 10 far-right parties during the last European legislature (2019-2024), and its members of illegally distributing more than €700,000 in donations to various European associations between 2019 and 2024, with no regard for the rules governing how these funds may be used.

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