Claude Raynal will propose to the Finance Committee next week to transform itself into a commission of inquiry to carry out hearings on the management of the fund launched by Marlène Schiappa in 2021.
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Claude Raynal (PS) on Monday proposed a commission of inquiry into the “Marianne Fund”, highlighting the “questions” posed by the choice of the two associations which received the largest subsidies.
“I will propose to the Finance Committee next week to transform itself into a commission of inquiry to conduct a certain number of hearings relating to the management of this fund and to draw some recommendations for the future”, announced Claude Raynal. during a press conference where he presented the first documents communicated at his request by the administration.
Two files “raise questions”
The “Marianne Fund”, a project to promote the “values of the Republic” launched in April 2021 by Marlène Schiappa when she was Minister Delegate for Citizenship after the assassination of Samuel Paty, is controversial after a series of revelations from the weekly Marianne, France 2 and Mediapart on the use of subsidies allocated to two associations.
Concerning 15 associations out of the 17 selected, which represent two thirds of the financing of this fund of 2.5 million euros, Claude Raynal estimated that “at this stage, nothing was of a nature to worry us” in the documents received.
On the other hand, “the two most financially heavy files raise questions”, he confirmed.
Subsidies of more than 300,000 euros
The main beneficiary, to the tune of 355,000 euros, is the Union of Physical Education and Military Preparation Societies (USEPPM), whose “object has no obvious link with the objectives of the fund”, he said. to remark.
According to the joint investigation of Marianne and France 2, this money would have made it possible to pay up to 120,000 euros two former leaders of the USEPPM including Mohamed Sifaoui, author of books on political Islam and terrorism.
The second beneficiary of the problematic fund for the senator is the association Reconstruire le commun, created shortly before the call for projects and which received an amount of 330,000 euros.
Mediapart revealed that several left-wing personalities, including the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, had been denigrated in certain content.
A quick selection by an “indogenous” jury
“Why did the selection committee choose two associations, one nascent, the other having no expertise in the field for the most significant funding?” Asked Claude Raynal, who wonders also “what are the respective roles of the interministerial committee and the minister’s office in these choices”.
Entrusted to the Interministerial Committee for the Prevention of Delinquency and Radicalization (CIPDR), the procedure for selecting subsidized associations was extremely fast, with a “slightly endogenous jury” underlined the senator, with three members of the minister’s cabinet and three members of CIPDR.
