Parti Communiste Français (PCF)
EU RANK: 154 (Tier 4: Low Performance)
The Parti communiste français is a historic communist party that remains a persistent, if smaller, force on the French left. Led by Fabien Roussel, it participated in the left alliance structures of both 2022 (NUPES) and 2024 (NFP) and won around 9 seats in the 2024 snap election within the wider coalition. PCF retains pockets of support in some industrial and working-class areas and maintains influence through local bastions and trade-union-adjacent networks. Its programme emphasises wages, industrial policy, public services and opposition to austerity.
Disinformation and alternative media
PCF is not a major driver of France’s alternative-media ecosystems. Its communications remain comparatively traditional, including party channels, local networks, parliamentary messaging and standard digital outputs, rather than influencer-led virality. In a media environment increasingly shaped by talk formats and social platforms, PCF’s national visibility tends to rise during alliance bargaining and social-policy conflict cycles, but it does not operate a dedicated media pipeline capable of setting the agenda independently. Disinformation/alternative media risk is low.
Foreign influence and external alignments
Contemporary PCF activity operates within France’s domestic electoral system and European parliamentary politics; the funding and litigation records reviewed do not indicate current hostile foreign-state financing or organisational dependence. External influence concerns are therefore limited, and relate more to general online narrative dynamics than to party-specific foreign leverage. Foreign influence DMI risk is low.
Media capture, advertising and public service media
According to our research, PCF has no major media ownership footprint and limited capacity to exert influence through advertising pressure. It engages public broadcasters and mainstream outlets under pluralism rules, and its leverage comes from coalition negotiations and local institutional presence rather than attempts to politicise PSB governance. Media capture, advertising and PSB-control DMI risk is low.
Corruption, litigation and institutional integrity
PCF’s integrity profile carries moderate risk due to ongoing investigative exposure. The litigation record references a PNF inquiry related to Fabien Roussel concerning alleged “fake job” issues as a parliamentary assistant, as well as scrutiny around a PCF-linked training body (CIDEFE) and suspected public-funds misuse/illegal party financing. These are not presented as final convictions in the summary, but they elevate integrity risk because they involve public funds and the party-finance interface. Funding data also show a distinctive pattern: PCF reports unusually high individual donations for its size (about €4.58m in 2023) alongside public subsidy (~€2.19m). This can be legitimate, but it increases the importance of transparency and compliance scrutiny. DMI corruption and institutional integrity risk is moderate.
Press freedom, harassment and treatment of media
PCF does not exhibit a systematic anti-media mobilisation pattern. Relations with journalists are typically conventional and issue-focused, with visibility driven by labour disputes, industrial policy debates and coalition positioning. Press freedom and harassment DMI risk is low.
| Dimension | Risk level | Short justification |
|---|---|---|
| Disinformation & alternative media | Low | Traditional communications and limited role in alternative-media ecosystems; no party-controlled influence pipeline identified. |
| Foreign influence & external alignments | Low | No foreign funding/organisational ties flagged in the records reviewed. |
| Media capture & advertising / PSB control | Low | No major media assets; influence mainly via coalition/local networks rather than media control. |
| Corruption & institutional integrity risk | Moderate | Ongoing inquiries involving party-finance interfaces plus unusually high donation volumes for party size increase integrity/opacity sensitivity. |
| Press freedom & harassment of media | Low | No systematic harassment or exclusion patterns identified in our research. |