The deputies have increased initiatives to alleviate the restrictions provided for in the draft Culture budget for 2027. Meeting on October 21 and 22, the finance and cultural affairs committees of the National Assembly adopted several amendments redirecting credits towards historical monuments, artistic creation and higher cultural education. These votes, obtained thanks to alliances between different political groups, do not however prejudge the result of the budgetary discussion in public session.
The Finance Committee adopted six amendments to the Culture mission’s appropriations, among some 80 proposals examined. The most important, presented by Sophie Taillé-Polian (Ecologist and Social, ecological left), restores 20 million euros for the maintenance of historic monuments.
Special rapporteur Jean-René Cazeneuve (Together for the Republic, presidential majority) obtained the adoption of two amendments of 10 million euros each: the first for the “Culture and rurality” program, the second for live entertainment and festivals. Delphine Lingemann (The Democrats, center right) pushed for an additional 16 million euros to be adopted for local higher education schools of art and design, which are facing recurring financial difficulties.
Two amendments concern regional and overseas languages: 700,000 euros for the preservation of Polynesian languages and oral heritage, on the initiative of Moerani Frébault (Together for the Republic), and 150,000 euros for the Basque language, on the proposal of Peio Dufau (Socialists and Related). These six measures represent 56.85 million euros of redirected credits, taken from program 224, dedicated to supporting the policies of the Ministry of Culture.
In general, almost all the amendments adopted in the Finance Committee or in the Cultural Affairs Committee increase the payment appropriations for the three programs which are Heritage, Creation and Transmission of Knowledge and Cultural Democratization by reducing the fourth program Support for the policies of the Ministry of Culture, which essentially includes… the salaries of ministry agents. This pirouette is a roundabout way of asking for an increase in the budget of the Culture Mission.
The Culture Committee favors creation
The next day, the Cultural Affairs Committee, asked for its opinion, adopted a series of amendments (also nearly 80) relating in particular to the creation and transmission of knowledge. Among the most significant is that of Céline Hervieu (Socialists and Related), who proposes an additional 81 million euros for support for creation.
Céline Calvez (Together for the Republic) passed an increase of 21 million euros in the National Fund for Long-Term Employment in Entertainment (FONPEPS), in order to bring its credits to at least 60 million euros. Steevy Gustave (Ecologist and Social) obtained 10 million euros for urban cultures and one million for the protection of creative freedom. Frédéric Maillot and Soumya Bourouaha (Democratic and Republican Left, Communist Left) defended an additional million euros for live entertainment.
The consequences of climate change on the sector are also appearing in budgetary decisions. An amendment from Céline Calvez provides for a fund of 5 million euros intended to secure performances canceled for climatic reasons. Two amendments defended by Frédéric Maillot and Soumya Bourouaha (GDR, communist left), on the one hand, and Sarah Legrain (La France insoumise), on the other hand, each propose a symbolic euro to relaunch the debate on social protection and the continuity of income of artist-authors.
Art schools, restitutions and accessibility
On the transmission aspect, Erwan Balanant (Les Démocrates) proposes an additional 6 million euros for local art and design schools. Céline Calvez also obtains 1.2 million euros to strengthen cultural accessibility for people with disabilities and 200,000 euros for the professional integration of young dance graduates.
Two amendments from Violette Spillebout (Together for the Republic) redirect respectively 920,000 and 110,000 euros from the Heritage program towards cultural democratization and popular education. Céline Hervieu (Socialists and Related, Social Democratic Left) proposes one million euros for artistic and cultural education.
In the heritage field, Sophie Taillé-Polian (Ecologist and Social) obtained the creation of a fund of 3 million euros dedicated to research into the provenance of cultural goods resulting from colonization. Frédéric Maillot and Soumya Bourouaha (GDR) are offering 500,000 euros to develop FALC (“easy to read and understand”) documents in museums. Two amendments by Erwan Balanant each provide 500,000 euros, in particular for research and representation of the works of women artists.
Votes still provisional
These adoptions do not all have the same scope. The Finance Committee is responsible: its votes constitute the positions of the committee responsible for examining the budget. Those of the Cultural Affairs Committee come under a sectoral opinion. In both cases they do not automatically modify the appropriations submitted to the Assembly in public session. Because the budgetary discussion in session starts again from the government project: the amendments adopted in committee must be defended again to produce their effects.
The schedule provides for the resumption of the discussion on revenues from October 27 to November 2, a vote on November 3, then the examination of expenditures until November 16 and a solemn vote on the entire budget on November 17, before its transmission to the Senate.
Taxation of works of art remains possible
The absence of debate in committee on the integration of works of art into the real estate wealth tax does not mean that this fear of the art market has been definitively ruled out for 2027. Last year, the Jean-Paul Mattei amendment (The Democrats) was tabled directly for the public session on October 22, 2025 and then was adopted on October 31. He planned to transform the IFI into a tax on unproductive wealth, with a base extended in particular to works of art, a threshold of 2 million euros and a rate of 1%. The measure was ultimately not retained in the finance law for 2026. A comparable initiative can therefore still arise during the session.
