French Culture Minister Rachida Dati will go to trial for alleged corruption and abuse of power. Dati wanted to run for Paris mayor next spring but was charged in 2019 for possibly lobbying for Renault-Nissan while she was a Member of the European Parliament. She denies the accusations and tried to cancel the charges, but failed.
She is accused of taking €900,000 from Renault-Nissan between 2010 and 2012 without doing real work. Dati was a Member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2019. The investigation is checking if she illegally lobbied in the Parliament.
Dati, who was a minister under French President Nicolas Sarkozy, became culture minister again in 2023 despite being charged. The French minister denies any wrongdoing.
Dati is also mayor of Paris’s 7th district, and often criticizes Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has held the post since 2014.
