Investigation in Nice on the financing of Christian Estrosi's parties during the municipal elections

June 7, 2023

An investigation was opened after the National Commission for Campaign Accounts reported possible donation ceilings exceeded during the campaign of the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi during the 2020 municipal elections, we learned from the prosecution on Wednesday.

The investigation, the existence of which was revealed by the Nice-Matin newspaper, was entrusted to the judicial police. The report of the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Funding (CNCCFP) dates back to the beginning of the year and relates to the amounts paid by candidates on the list to fund the campaign.

Half a dozen running mates of Christian Estrosi (Horizons) are affected by these possible ceiling overruns, which focus on payments to two distinct political structures, Les Amis du Maire and Le Rassemblement.

Philippe Pradal, Horizons deputy, not himself concerned by these possible irregularities, was heard by the investigators of the judicial police as an accountant of the two political structures concerned.

To appear on Christian Estrosi’s list during this campaign, the candidates participated in its financing up to 10,000 euros for deputies and 6,000 euros for municipal councillors, a common practice in political parties, according to a municipal source.

In the entourage of the mayor, where it is specified that the accounts of the municipal campaign itself have been validated, it is explained that the sums were paid in the form of donations to one of the two parties, donations which must respect a legal ceiling of 7,500 euros, and in the form of contributions to the second political structure.

According to this source, the Campaign Accounts Commission did not distinguish between donations and contributions. However, if the holders of an elective mandate are required to respect the ceiling of 7,500 euros for the donations they make to a party, their contributions are not limited.

The investigation will have to determine whether irregularities have therefore actually been committed and whether the donation ceilings have been exceeded.