The legislative elections next June are decisive for the finances of political parties. The volume of public grants will depend on their results.
After a costly presidential campaign for the parties, the legislative elections make it possible to bail out the coffers. The result of the vote determines the public funding of training for the next five years.
The stakes are all the more important this year as many parties did not reach the 5% required in the first round of the presidential election to obtain the reimbursement of a large part of the campaign expenses.
Concretely, two public aids will be granted to the parties after the legislative elections: one conditional on the number of votes collected, the other on the number of deputies elected.
€1.40 per vote per year
Provided they win at least 1% of the vote in at least 50 constituencies, parties receive €1.40 per vote per year for five years. And this even if no candidate manages to be elected. For example, the Animalist Party has no MPs but receives more than €60,000 per year thanks to its score in the 2017 legislative elections.
In a second step, the parties which succeed in sending candidates to the Assembly receive 37,280 euros per elected deputy and per year. It should be noted that this aid may vary from one year to the next, if an elected representative changes parliamentary group, for example.
In total, in 2022, 66 million euros were donated to the various political parties. On its own, La République en Marche (LREM) thus receives nearly 20 million euros per year.
Obligations for the parties
To receive these sums, the parties are subject to certain obligations, such as making their accounts public or presenting as many male as female candidates.
“In the event of non-compliance with gender parity for the presentation of candidates for elections, the formations are financially penalized”, also specifies the official website Vie publique. The parties France Insoumise, Les Républicains, Debout la France and the Animalist Party were notably penalized.