7 of Le Pen’s most outrageous moments from 35 years in the EU Parliament

Jean-Marie Le Pen died this Tuesday at the age of 96. Leader of the National Front (FN), later renamed the National Rally (RN) when his daughter Marine took over, he served as an MEP for 35 years. During this time, he made a lasting mark in the chamber. From insults and Holocaust denial to legal troubles, here are the most controversial moments of the late MEP.  

Ever the provocateur, Le Pen brought the subject of the Holocaust to a 1987 edition of RTL’s Le Grand Jury. “I am not saying the gas chambers did not exist. But I do think they are nothing but a detail in the history of World War Two,” he claimed.  

This outrage resurfaced at the European Parliament in 2009, where he stuck to his guns: “I stand firm in my position that the gas chambers are just a detail in the history of WW2”, huffed an irritated Le Pen, rolling his eyes when the crowd of MEPs booed him loudly.  

It was an idea he repeated throughout the decades. Despite expressing regret in 1995, he doubled down in 1997, saying: "In a thousand-page book about WW2, concentration camps occupy two pages, and the gas chambers, 15 lines. That’s what we call a detail."

Le Pen was so controversial among his colleagues in the European Parliament that they changed its rules to prevent him from presiding over sessions.  

Until 2009, it was tradition for the oldest MEP to chair the first plenary session of Parliament while waiting for a new president to be elected.  

To avoid this scenario, centre-right and left-wing MEPs pushed through amendments to the Parliament's internal rules. Now, the sitting president chairs the first session and - if not re-elected - the most senior vice-president or the MEP with the longest tenure takes over. 

September 2011. During a debate on the