Macron bars ex-PM Fillon from Legion of Honour for 10 years

August 20, 2026 at 01:50 PM2 min

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President Emmanuel Macron bars former French prime minister François Fillon from wearing the Legion of Honour for 10 years under a decree published in the Journal officiel. A second decree suspends his rights under the National Order of Merit for the same period.

Key Facts

President Emmanuel Macron’s decree published in the Journal officiel bars François Fillon for 10 years from exercising the rights attached to his rank of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.
A second decree suspends for 10 years Fillon’s rights under the National Order of Merit, in which he holds the highest rank of Grand Cross.
Fillon served as French prime minister from 2007 to 2012, which legally entitled him to automatically become a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.
In June 2025 the Paris appeals court sentenced Fillon to a four-year suspended prison term, a €375,000 fine and a five-year ban from standing for election; he withdrew his cassation appeal in February 2026.
The court found that his wife Penelope Fillon was paid as a parliamentary assistant without performing the work, and the scandal erupted during the 2017 presidential campaign, contributing to his first-round defeat.

Honours Suspension

President Emmanuel Macron’s decree published in the Journal officiel bars François Fillon for 10 years from exercising the rights attached to his rank of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. Under the Legion of Honour code, during the suspension Fillon may not wear French or foreign insignia overseen by the order’s grand chancellery and loses ceremonial precedence and honours. A second decree suspends for 10 years the rights conferred by the National Order of Merit, in which Fillon holds the highest rank of Grand Cross. Grand Officer is the second-highest rank of the Legion of Honour after the Grand Cross and is automatically granted to former prime ministers who served at least two years. The decorations were not formally withdrawn, and Fillon may resume using them after the restriction expires; no monetary payment is attached to the civil-service honour.

Conviction and Scandal

In June 2025 the Paris appeals court sentenced François Fillon to a four-year suspended prison term, a €375,000 fine and a five-year ban from standing for election. In February 2026 Fillon withdrew his cassation appeal, bringing the sentence into force. In 2022 a court had initially sentenced him to four years in prison, including one year in custody, and in April 2025 he was exempted from serving the custodial part. The court found that his wife Penelope Fillon was paid as a parliamentary assistant without performing the work. The scandal, known as “Penelopegate,” erupted during the 2017 presidential campaign and contributed to Fillon’s first-round defeat.