Rachida Dati, a former justice and culture minister, has gone on trial in Paris accused of receiving €900,000 from Renault‑Nissan between 2009 and 2013. Prosecutors say a 2009 contract that described the payments as legal fees masked lobbying activity allegedly organised by Carlos Ghosn, a fugitive in Lebanon. Dati rejects the accusations; if convicted she faces up to 10 years in prison, heavy fines and a five‑year ban from public office.
Rachida Dati on Trial in Paris Over Alleged Renault‑Nissan Lobbying Payments
Rachida Dati ran to be mayor of Paris in March, but was beaten after a campaign in which her forthcoming trial was used as an argument against her [AFP via Getty Images]
Rachida Dati, a former French justice and culture minister, has appeared in a Paris courtroom accused of accepting payments from Renault‑Nissan in return for political influence. The case has revived questions about the boundary between legal consultancy and lobbying by former public officials.
The Allegations
Prosecutors say Dati received €900,000 (£770,000) from Renault‑Nissan between 2009 and 2013. A contract signed in 2009 — shortly after Dati left her ministerial role under President Nicolas Sarkozy and took her seat in the European Parliament — described the payments as fees for legal services. Magistrates, however, allege the contract masked payments for lobbying work on the carmaker’s behalf, claims that Dati denies.
Role Of Carlos Ghosn
Investigators say Renault‑Nissan’s former chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, recruited Dati to press the company’s interests in the European Parliament and to facilitate contacts with leading political figures, including Sarkozy. Ghosn, who faces separate charges in the same case, denies wrongdoing and is absent from the trial after fleeing to Lebanon in 2019.
Legal Stakes And Political Fallout
If convicted, Dati faces up to 10 years in prison, substantial fines and a five‑year ban from holding public office. Such a sentence could force her to relinquish the mayoralty of Paris’s affluent 7th arrondissement, a post she has held since 2008.
Dati briefly returned to national government in 2024 as culture minister but stepped down in February to run for mayor of Paris. She was defeated by Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire amid a campaign in which opponents highlighted her pending trial.
Broader Concerns
Anti‑corruption organisations participating as civil plaintiffs say the case underscores the need for clearer legal limits on lobbying and stronger safeguards against conflicts of interest in French public life. "The affair illustrates the risks of public decision‑making being captured by private interests," said Patrick Lefas of Transparency International France.
"The affair illustrates the risks of public decision‑making being captured by private interests," — Patrick Lefas, Transparency International France
The trial will test how French courts treat post‑office work by former ministers and could prompt renewed debate over transparency and lobbying regulation in Europe.
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