France, Sept. 9 -- Bayrou, who was acquitted at the first trial in 2024, will appear alongside ten former party officials in the decade-old case involving parliamentary assistants to MEPs.

"I am approaching this trial with great composure and confidence," the 75-year-old told journalists ahead of the hearing.

Prosecutors maintain that around €300,000 was misappropriated between 2005 and 2017 through 11 contracts for parliamentary assistants who were paid by the European Parliament but allegedly worked primarily for the party.

French centrist leader Francois Bayrou charged over public funds misuse, but says he'll stay put A decade-old EU funds case

At the original trial, judges found that European funds had indeed been improperly...