Former head of the European Union agency responsible for border control joins the National Rally for the European elections. He was targeted by proceedings for “abuse of power”.
Fabrice Leggeri is the former director of Frontex, the European Union agency responsible for border control. On Saturday February 17 evening, he announced in the columns of the JDD that he was joining the National Rally for the European elections in June. He will therefore be on Jordan Bardella’s list, in third position. A 55-year-old senior civil servant, he studied at ENA and Normal Sup, before being appointed to the management of Frontex from 2015 to 2022.
Targeted by procedures for “abuse of power”
A disciplinary investigation by Olaf, the European Anti-Fraud Office, subsequently forced him to resign. A report not made public then accused him of “not having respected procedures and of having demonstrated disloyalty towards the European Union”. He would also have been responsible for poor management. After his resignation, Olaf would have investigated “possible faults and/or irregularities in the operation and internal management committed” by the director or “by other members of the company’s staff”. Olaf also asked Frontex to “initiate appropriate disciplinary procedures” because of “behavior and its actions towards three members of the agency, including the former deputy executive director”. Still according to this same report, Fabrice Leggeri would have had, between 2017 and 2021, “a management style based on excessive micro-management and centralization of the decision-making process, as well as on distrust of staff”. It would have had a “negative impact” on the working atmosphere and the “well-being” of the staff.
He would have “suffered pressure”
But according to Fabrice Leggeri, he would have “suffered pressure” and felt “general abandonment”. “The European Commission, clearly hostile towards me, wanted me to leave,” he explains. A hypothesis supported by Jordan Bardella: “Fabrice Leggeri was pushed to resign by Emmanuel Macron because he was acting against the submersion of Europe,” he tweeted.