The high-stakes trial opens in Paris on Monday and will last for two months.
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00:00A major trial has begun in France, with the far-right National Rally Party and its members
00:06accused of embezzling EU funds.
00:10The high-stakes trial involves 27 former and current party members, including former presidential
00:16candidate Marine Le Pen and her father, the party's co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.
00:24Those on trial are accused of misusing EU money designated for parliamentary assistance
00:29to pay staff working for the party.
00:33The charges range from embezzling funds to complicity or concealing the misuse of public
00:38money, and if convicted, the party members face up to 10 years in prison and fines of
00:44up to one million euros.
00:49They could also lose their civic rights, making them ineligible to run for elected office
00:54for up to five years.
00:56This is not the first time a political party has faced such charges in France.
01:27Earlier this year, former Justice Minister François Beyrou was on trial for similar
01:32reasons.
01:33While Beyrou was acquitted, several members of his party received suspended prison sentences
01:39and fines of tens of millions of euros.
01:56The trial opening today in Paris comes after Marine Le Pen's political party increased
02:19their number of MPs in France's National Assembly in the recent snap election.
02:24But it could also shape Marine Le Pen's political future.
02:27Recent polls have her as the top candidate among French voters, and the trial, which
02:31will last for two months, could determine whether or not she can run in the 2027 presidential
02:36election.
02:37This is Lauren Chadwick reporting for Euronews.