The Court of Auditors warns, in a report published today, about the sustainability of the major heritage projects of the Ministry of Culture. Its analysis covers operations undertaken since 2015, or likely to be undertaken by 2035, whose cost exceeds €50 million. The next decade could cost at least twice as much as the previous one, with public funding declining.
Between 2015 and 2025, fourteen major projects mobilized more than €2.1 billion. Historical buildings were mainly concerned: Richelieu Quadrilateral of the BNF, Hôtel de la Marine, Versailles, Fontainebleau, Clairvaux, Villers-Cotterêts. Added to this list is the Grand Palais, the restoration of which exceeds €536 million. Excluding Villers-Cotterêts and Clairvaux, all operations are located in Île-de-France.
For the decade 2026-2035, around fifteen operations already underway or under study bring the minimum addition to 5 billion euros. Two projects dominate: “Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance”, estimated at more than €1.1 billion for its first two phases, and the renovation of the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie, estimated at between €1.3 and 1.5 billion. Added to this are the Center Pompidou, closed for five years and valued at €469 million, and the Paris National Opera, estimated at €670 million between 2027 and 2037.
The budgetary equation does not allow all this work to be financed. The program 175
dedicated to heritage, has certainly progressed but the amount of its payment appropriations – of the order of €1.2 billion – very mobilized for the operating costs of national museums, the restoration of historic monuments, preventive archeology, leaves little room for maneuver.
The Court also points to a lack of management. Master plans and multi-year investment plans are not always established or executed. At least seven projects suffered more than €375 million in additional costs, often linked to insufficient technical diagnoses or program changes. Ministerial commissions exist, but their opinions are not binding and financing plans are not systematically consolidated.
Note
To avoid confusion between ministries, the Budget Department assigns a unique 3-digit number to each program.
- Within the Culture Mission, the State has created and numbered four major programs:
- Program 131: Creation (support for live performance, visual arts)
- Program 175: Heritage (museums, historical monuments, archaeology, archives)
Program 224: Support for the policies of the Ministry of Culture (general management, personnel)Program 361: Transmission of knowledge and democratization of culture
