Le Pen must leave Parliament

Date: 17/04/03

By Martin Banks

FRENCH far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen may appeal after a court upheld a decision by the European Parliament to strip him of his MEP seat.

Parliament's spokesman David Harley said the assembly's legal experts were still examining the implications of the ruling, but added: "My understanding is that following this ruling, Le Pen is no longer an MEP - end of story."

But at Le Pen's Parliamentary office in Brussels this week there was little sign that the founding president of the Front National intended drawing a line under his 18-year Brussels career just yet.

Staff were still manning his office and an assistant for the veteran politician said that, despite the ruling, he still "very much" considered himself an MEP. She also confirmed he was considering taking his case to the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice.

The action against Le Pen stemmed from his physical attack on Socialist politician Annette Peulvast-Bergeal, in 1997. He was convicted of assault, and temporarily banned from holding public office in France.

The then president of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine, withdrew his MEP mandate.

However, Le Pen appealed to the European Court of First Instance and was able to return to his seat in the Parliament until the ruling last Thursday (10 April).

Le Pen argued that the decision to strip him of his seat should have been taken by the Parliament voting in plenary session, instead of by the assembly's president.

But the court ruled that there had been no violation of EU laws because Fontaine's decision was based on French court rulings.

The far-right leader shocked many observers in France when he came second in the country's presidential race last year.

He later lost the run-off to Jacques Chirac by a large margin.

The European Court of First Instance upheld on 10 April 2003 a decision by the European Parliament to strip far right French MEP Jean- Marie Le Pen of his seat after he physically attacked a fellow MEP in 1997.