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OUR DES

OMPTES

French national museums after a

decade of transformations

2000-2010

March 2011

Disclaimer

Summary

the Public Thematic Report

his summary is designed to aid the understanding and use of

the Cour des Comptes report.

Only the report is legally binding on the Cour des Comptes.

The responses of government departments, councils and other

organizations are appended to the report.

Introduction

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

The reorganization of France’s national museums:

a welcome gain in autonomy, but less

national regulation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Government spending on national museums:

a decade of growth

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment for national museum

policy

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Conclusion

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Recommendations

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

Contents

ver the past decade, France’s 37 national museums (which include the Louvre,

the Palace of Versailles, the Centre Georges Pompidou, and the Musée

d’Orsay) have been at the heart of the nation’s cultural policy: in the years 2000 to

2010, government spending on national museums rose at twice the speed of Ministry

of Culture expenditure and three times faster than national budget spending.

The targets set for these museums remained unchanged over the period. These were

to improve the management of national collections, enhance the cultural offering, appeal

to a younger and more diverse audience and strive to achieve more efficient management.

While each museum, considered separately, can claim some success in meeting these

targets, particularly in cultural terms, national policy is open to more criticism. It has

become more costly and more centred on Paris and has failed to achieve any significant

progress in opening up the museums to a broader audience.

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

Introduction

The reorganization

of France’s national

museums: a welcome gain

in autonomy, but less

national regulation

At the end of the 1990s, it was gen-

erally agreed that the existing system

was too centralized and that the

Direction des Musées de France (DMF)

and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux

(RMN) were no longer able to instil in

these institutions all the energy and

vigour of a booming cultural economy.

Independence thus became the main-

spring of the reorganization set into

motion as of 1999.

Independence

with no strategy

for efficiency

After nearly ten years of uninter-

rupted institutional reorganization, the

main museums in France have, indeed,

gained independence in terms of man-

agement (thanks to public corporation

status) and cultural policy (following the

split from the RMN). This has, howev-

er, come at a net cost for the

Government and objectives relating to

efficiency have been left by the wayside.

Given the state of public finances

and the rich museum collections avail-

able, it is no longer possible to adopt an

approach geared only to “expansion”.

The Cour des Comptes recommends

that any further changes in status should

be ruled out, unless they are based on a

credible project that stabilizes or moder-

ates the Government’s financial com-

mitment. This recommendation chiefly

concerns the Maison de l’Histoire de

France, which will bring together nine

national museums, the future Musée des

Civilisations de l’Europe et de la

Méditerranée (MuCEM) and each of

the new departments planned by the

Louvre.

RMN reform

Claims for independence by muse-

ums led to a reform in the functioning

of the RMN, whose museum-related

activities had come under some criti-

cism. This would be echoed in the

financial crisis that hit the organization

when it lost €7.7 million in 2001 and

another €4.9 million in 2002.

The clarification of government

funding of national museums that the

Minister of Culture announced in June

2002 came into effect on 1 January

2004, putting an end to the grouping of

national museums with regard to fund-

ing and acquisitions.

The reform did, however, set out to

maintain a cooperative system in which

Cour des Comptes

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

The reorganization of France’s

national museums: a welcome gain in

autonomy, but less national regulation

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

the RMN was to retain all its functions

regarding small museums, as well as

responsibility for the exhibitions, publi-

cations and commercial activities of

largest museums, which would be gov-

erned by agreements.

Between 2004 and 2009, however,

the large museums gradually managed

to take over these functions for them-

selves. The Ministry of Culture had no

choice but to take note that the cooper-

ation system had failed. The reform ini-

tiated in 2009 with a view to merging the

RMN with the Grand Palais public cor-

poration, was based on a plan to trans-

form the organization into a cultural

operator, whose activities would hence-

forth include acting as a simple “service

provider” for museums.

The RMN’s new status, however,

still makes mention of “reference” com-

petencies and public service missions.

The experience of the last decade shows

that these should be clearly defined to

avoid renewing old battles.

Museums are now independent, and

rightly so. However that may be, no def-

inition of independence could justify

that public institutions, all funded by

public money and placed under the

authority of the same ministry, should

refuse to seek greater efficiency through

various forms of cooperation or pool-

ing of resources.

The declining role

of the Ministry of

Culture in national

regulation

The independence of museums

should have led to a change in ministeri-

al regulation. The former supervisory

framework was to be replaced by a form

of strategic supervision in which direc-

tors were chosen and sent engagement

letters and the museums were assigned

objectives under a long-term contract.

This new style of regulation has not

materialized, the directors of large

museums having managed to avoid any

supervision.

This has led to an unsatisfactory

state of affairs, governed by direct rela-

tions between museum management

teams and political authorities. Museum

management teams have now taken to

referring only to the political authorities,

while Ministry of Culture departments

are no longer able to implement nation-

al policy guidelines on a day-to-day

basis.

This has undermined the consisten-

cy of museum policy and placed the

Ministry in a situation where the entire

decision-making process has become

longer, more complex and often more

costly.

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

Government spending on

national museums: a

decade of growth

During the last decade, museums

were set the objective of developing

their own resources (entrance fees, roy-

alties, commercial revenue and patron-

age) in the hope of stabilizing or even

reducing government funding.

The initiative was unsuccessful. In

spite of increased rates over the last ten

years, the national museums considered

as a whole have only seen a slight

improvement in terms of economic

balance.

Museum economy:

the overbearing

weight of govern-

ment funding

The total amount of funds allocated

to national museums and museum poli-

cy reached €334 million in 2000. By

2010, this amount had risen by 58% to

nearly €528 million, while the Ministry

of Culture budget rose by 32% over the

same period.

Bearing in mind that tax benefits

related to patronage were also doubled,

total government spending in favour of

national museums climbed by 70 to 90%

in ten years, whereas inflation rose by

only 20% over the same period.

In 2009, the operating costs of

France’s 37 national museums amount-

ed to €667 million. The State paid a fur-

ther €93 million in staff costs, making a

total of €760 million. Of this total,

€406 million came directly from the

State. The same year, the “cultural” rev-

enue of these museums (which includes

revenue from ticket sales, royalties and

charges for services provided) reached

€178.31 million, in other words, less

than half the amount of government

grants.

Even if the tax benefits granted in

connection with patronage are ignored,

the Government’s contribution to the

operating costs of the national muse-

ums, through grants and the payment of

some of their payroll costs, represents

55% (for the Louvre) to 80% (for the

Centre Georges Pompidou and the

Musée du Quai Branly) of these costs.

In ten years, these percentages only

dropped slightly, on a museum-by-

museum basis, and even began to climb

again in 2009 owing to compensation

for the free entrance measures adopted

at the national level.

In fact, national heritage institutions

saw their share of own resources fall

from 47% in 2005 to 39% in 2010 and

no museum reached a level compatible

with a cut in government support.

Tensions

foreseeable in the

coming years

This increase in government spend-

ing was decided as part of an expansion

policy. Compared with 2000, there was

one new museum in 2010 (the Musée du

Quai Branly), four museums had been

entirely renovated (the Musée National

d’Art Moderne, the Musée Guimet, the

Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the

Musée de l’Orangerie), while several

others had been extended or embel-

lished.

Other investment operations are

now underway, one example being the

renovation of the Hôtel de Soubise

which is to house the Maison de

l’Histoire de France. The three main

projects for the next decade should be

the construction of the Musée des

Civilisations de l’Europe et de la

Méditerranée (MuCEM) in Marseille,

the French museums centre for conser-

vation, research and restoration in

Cergy-Pontoise and renovation work on

the Grand Palais which, depending on

the scenario considered, represents

between €50.2 million and €150.7 mil-

lion in subsidies between 2014 and

2016.

The rise in planned capital invest-

ments between 2006 (€6.56 million) and

2011 (€44.54 million) reflects the grow-

ing cost of these works each year. In

addition, new or extended facilities will

give rise to increased operating costs. In

this respect, the MuCEM could have an

impact on the Ministry of Culture budg-

et, as of 2013, in much the same way as

the Musée du Quai Branly did in the

middle of the last decade. The extension

of the Picasso Museum in Paris and the

opening of the Department of Islamic

Art at the Louvre will mean an increase

in staff numbers, with 27 to 46 jobs

being created for the first and another

40 for the second.

In view of the current situation in

the museum economy, it is hard to imag-

ine that the State will not bear most of

these extra costs. Thus, the years 2011-

2020 already present a budget risk which

has forced the Ministry of Culture to

urge museums to embark on a deter-

mined efficiency drive to compensate

for at least some of the unavoidable

costs arising in connection with planned

projects.

Patronage and

rising tax

expenditure

The impressive boom in cultural

patronage observed since the Act of 1

August 2003 came into effect can be

explained by the considerable tax advan-

tages to which patrons of the arts are

entitled. The new system offers tax

reductions ranging from 60 to 90% of

the value of donations, whereas the for-

mer system was based on deductions

from taxable income. In terms of tax

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

Government spending

on national museums:

a decade of growth

compensations, the French system is the

most favourable in the world, far more

favourable than the American system,

for example.

The assessment of tax expenditure

granted by the Government is therefore

a major issue. And yet, the Cour des

Comptes has observed every year since

2006 that, at the Ministry of Culture,

this assessment was incomplete and

lacking in precision and that no serious

attempt at carrying out an assessment or

inventory seemed close to completion.

Furthermore, in view of the rapid

growth of patronage, the Government

should have specified more clearly the

conditions governing its use in muse-

ums. This was not done and three types

of ambiguity have yet to be cleared up.

The first concerns advantages in

kind granted to patrons of the arts,

which the tax authorities made “official”

for the first time, shortly after the Act of

1 August 2003 came into effect,

demanding that such advantages should

be capped at 25% of the value of dona-

tions. In spite of its advantages, this

measure creates confusion between

patronage, which is supposed to be dis-

interested, and sponsorship, which is a

communication expense.

The second ambiguity concerns

patronage “in kind”, which is when a

company carries out work or provides

services directly for the beneficiary.

The Cour des Comptes has noted that

the value of such services was not

always assessed with the necessary

rigour, given the significant tax advan-

tages (60% tax reduction) to which the

beneficiaries are entitled.

The

third

ambiguity

concerns

charges for loaning works of art.

According to the ethics governing

cooperation between museums, works

of art are loaned free of charge, in the

hope that the favour will be returned.

Over the past decade, however, this rule

has come up against the principle of

reality and the national museums have

begun to put a price on cooperation. In

most cases, this takes the form of

“patronage”, paid for by Governments,

museums or foreign companies receiv-

ing the works of art on loan.

This unofficial practice of charging

for loans is one application of the poli-

cy that consists in exploiting the State’s

intangible assets. It nevertheless raises

problems of principle as far as the ethi-

cal environment of museums is con-

cerned. The conditions governing this

practice should therefore be set out

more clearly, for example in a national

charter drawn up the Ministry of

Culture.

Rising staff

numbers

Increased government expenditure

has financed the rising number of staff

France’s

national

museums.

According to Cour des Comptes esti-

mates, the total staff number rose from

6,559 in 2000 to 7,460 in 2009, repre-

senting an increase of 901 jobs

(+13.7%), most of which concern the

large museums (+613 jobs at the

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

Government spending

on national museums:

a decade of growth

Louvre, +202 jobs at the Palace of

Versailles).

This rise in numbers has been a par-

tial response to longer opening hours

and an increase in the percentage of

rooms open to the public. It also shows

that the reduced scope of RMN activi-

ties and the independence of museums

have had some impact on staff num-

bers. The development of the cultural

offering has not been affected by greater

efficiency or productivity, but by a poli-

cy of resources. At the Louvre, for

example, the percentage of rooms open

to the public rose from 75% in 2002 to

90% in 2009. This remarkable achieve-

ment called for an increase in reception,

security and storage staff and 272 new

jobs, representing a 34% increase, were

created over this period.

These figures raise the question of

available productivity in the reception

and security functions. In this respect,

two avenues have barely been explored.

Although national museums have

regularly purchased new technological

equipment, they have not been encour-

aged to do so from the long-term recep-

tion and security productivity perspec-

tive.

Neither have clear guidelines been

established for the socially sensitive

issue of the gradual introduction of

security contracts with private service

providers. While it is true that new insti-

tutions, like the Musée du Quai Branly,

have adopted this method, and the

Picasso Museum in Paris has been asked

to do the same in preparation for its

reopening in 2013, the advantages of

this type of outsourcing, especially in

terms of cost, have yet to be the subject

of any rigorous appraisal.

The same rigour should apply to

budget and public employment consid-

erations. Given the principle of not

replacing one in two persons retiring in

the public sector, which implies an over-

all cut in staff numbers at the national

museums, there is no chance of any

renewed growth in resources between

2011 and 2020.

The Ministry of Culture and its

museums should also launch an efficien-

cy drive concerning human resources

without delay. This would involve

speeding up pooling initiatives among

museums, ensuring strict adherence to

cost ratios, which should be seen as

objectives, sharing best practices and

incorporating technological progress

right from the design and organization

of the museums’ collections.

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

Government spending

on national museums:

a decade of growth

A decade of expansion for

museums, a decade of

disappointment for

national museum policy

Large museums have been able to

increase their resources and their num-

ber of projects thanks to a concomitant

rise in government grants and entrance

fees. It is in this respect that the years

2000-2010 can be described as having

been marked by an “offering-based pol-

icy”. While this rich cultural offering can

be considered satisfactory in itself, it is

not the only goal of national museum

policy.

Real progress in

managing and

building up

collections

The years 2000-2010 saw two initia-

tives regarding collection management.

The first was aimed at improving

conditions for monitoring, inventorying

and verifying national collections after

serious shortcomings has been brought

to light in these areas at the end of the

1990s.

This initiative was embodied in the

Act of 4 January 2002 on French muse-

ums. Unquestionable progress was

made in these areas during the last

decade. Verification procedures now

run smoothly and monitoring and

inspection bodies have been set up on a

permanent basis. Preventive conserva-

tion and reserve collection management,

however, have seen progress on a more

modest scale.

The second initiative was aimed at

doing away with the centralized system

of national collection acquisitions and

leaving direct responsibility with muse-

ums in this area. As a result, museum

collections have grown considerably, a

phenomenon largely amplified by the

growth in tax expenditure related to

patronage. As yet, however, no museum

has produced a formal “acquisition

strategy” setting out its priorities, a tool

which would have made for a more

selective acquisition policy, an objective

defined in 2003.

Cultural develop-

ment: an offering-

based policy

During the last decade, large muse-

ums became “cultural operators” whose

activities reached beyond the traditional

Cour des Comptes

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment for

national museum policy

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

notion of a museum set out in the Act

of 4 January 2002.

Growing number of

temporary exhibitions

While the 1970s and ’80s could still

be seen as a period of major national

exhibitions at the national galleries of

the Grand Palais, the 1990s saw an

increase in the number and variety of

exhibitions and in their variety in terms

of size. In 2003, the RMN and the

national museums organized 19 exhibi-

tions, compared with more than 60 in

the 2009.

It remains to be seen whether these

exhibitions are capable of drawing new

visitors and to what extent they are

compatible with a sustainable economic

model. In the major museums, there has

been a reversal, in terms of profitability,

between large exhibitions with a sepa-

rate entrance fee, and small exhibitions

that are part of the permanent collec-

tions. Whereas at the beginning of the

decade, large exhibitions often lost

money and small exhibitions were fund-

ed by sponsorship or patronage, profits

from “large” exhibitions are now rein-

vested in the “small” ones.

Growth in publication

activities

Following their demand for control

over their publications policy, the major

museums broke away from the RMN in

this area. The number of publications

by the RMN and the four leading

national museums considered as a whole

rose from 110 in 2000 to 201 in 2008,

before dropping to 178 in 2009.

This growth in publication activities

has not, however, made for greater effi-

ciency. Not only has the economic rele-

vance of decentralizing this activity yet

to be demonstrated by a totally reliable

audit, the government has also had to

provide additional support in terms of

budget.

Cultural events and

auditoriums

The third major component of the

offering-based policy in recent years has

been the increase in the number and

variety of events inside museums, par-

ticularly in auditoriums. Audits carried

out by the Cour des Comptes have all

shown that these structures and activi-

ties are unable to pay for themselves.

Regulating the

offering-based policy or

the need for full cost

accounting

Temporary exhibitions, publications

and auditoriums all serve the same pur-

pose; they are part of a strategy to

develop the cultural offering and are

intended as an addition to the museums’

core activity.

Museums regard the development

of this offering as a matter of principle,

as a means of ensuring that their collec-

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment for

national museum policy

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

tions continue to be regarded as living

objects. On a cultural scene that is

already rich, however, and in a museum

economy built on government funding,

these new offerings actually raise two

practical questions: a) how can the

budget be redistributed to promote

them? and b) to what extent can they

increase the number and diversity of

visitors?

One thing these activities have in

common is that they have not been gov-

erned by considerations of economic

balance. In view of their recent develop-

ment, they must now be regarded as a

central part of museum life. This means

that they are, in fact, funded through

government grants, so a rigorous cost

accounting system must be set up to

determine their overall cost to ensure

optimum regulation.

As little progress has been observed

in terms of appeal to a younger and

more diverse audience, the question

should be raised as to whether, for the

sake of efficiency, some of the

resources allocated to this “offering-

based policy” should not be redirected

in favour of operations which target the

priority audience more directly.

National policy

increasingly centred

on Paris

Dwindling government subsidies

for regional museums (which dropped

from €32.63 million in 2000 to €16.53

million in 2010), combined with the sys-

tematic preference for Paris as the venue

for major investment programmes, have

upset the balance of national policy at

the expense of the regions.

Regarding new facilities alone, four

decisions have contributed to this bias

in favour of Paris: the choice of Paris as

the location for the Musée du Quai

Branly; the creation of the Islamic Art

Department at the Louvre; the transfor-

mation of the State-owned wing of the

Palais de Tokyo into a fully-fledged

institution devoted to contemporary art;

and, lastly, the choice of the Hôtel de

Soubise, the former home of the

French national archives at the heart of

the Marais district in Paris, as the loca-

tion for the Maison de l’Histoire de

France.

The Centre Georges Pompidou and

the Louvre have both opened regional

centres. The Centre Pompidou in Metz

was opened on 12 May 2010, while the

Louvre plans to open its regional centre

in Lens in 2012. While these regional

centres are one answer to the concentra-

tion of national museums in Paris, gov-

ernment funding towards their con-

struction costs has been on a modest

scale (5.9% of a total €68 million in

Metz and 3.8% of a total €150 million in

Lens), as has funding towards their run-

ning costs (with only €1 million over

three years for Metz, and no govern-

ment funding at all for Lens once the

museum has opened).

The transfer of the former museum

of popular arts and traditions to the

future MuCEM in Marseille, following a

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment for

national museum policy

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

decision made at the beginning of the

century and, after much procrastination,

scheduled to open in 2013, could be the

start of a process to restore the balance

in favour of the regions.

The concentration of funds and

investments in Paris could have been

offset by an ambitious policy of show-

ing works from the national museums at

regional museums, an objective outlined

at the start of the decade.

After a few events, such as “22

works from the Louvre in 22 regions”

between 2003 and 2007, there was no

determined action to take such initia-

tives any further.

Between 2005 and

2010, indicators of regional activity at

the leading national museums took a

sharp downturn, a phenomenon that

can be largely explained by the fact that

these museums have more to gain from

cooperation with major foreign institu-

tions.

It is a matter of political opportuni-

ty. While, however, broader access to

culture remains central to Ministry of

Culture policy, it would seem logical for

national museums to adopt an approach

to their activities that embraces all the

regions.

Attendance: an

increase in numbers

but not in diversity

French national museums saw atten-

dance rise by 58% - from 17.8 million to

28.1 million visits - between 2000 and

2009.

This rise in popularity was

observed in most OECD countries, but

nowhere as much as in France.

While increased attendance was an

objective shared by all museums, there

were some ambiguities and contradic-

tions when it came to designating prior-

ity groups, namely young people and

underprivileged sections of the commu-

nity. The fact that admission is free for

these priority groups reduces the ratio

of paying to non-paying visitors, which

is the opposite of what the Government

has asked the museums to do.

This lack of consistency makes it

hard to determine whether or not the

national museums have reached their

objectives, although currently available

studies would tend to indicate that they

have not.

Growth in total attendance

figures is not reflected in

the young audience

As of 2006, an indicator showing

the number of under-18s visiting

national museums, as a proportion of

total attendance, was incorporated into

the annual performance projections for

the Ministry of Culture, which reflects

how important this point is.

Starting

from the figure of 17% reached in 2003,

it was planned to reach 19% in 2005 and

23% by 2010.

The actual figures fell far short of

these objectives, as the Ministry of

Culture reported a result of only 15.6%

for 2009.

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment for

national museum policy

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

In fact, it was only because of the

total attendance figure that the number

of young visitors remained stable in

terms of volume. Young visitors

received less “benefit” from the past

decade than other categories, even

though they had been designated as a

priority group: between 2005 and 2009,

when national museums saw attendance

rise by 4.8 million visits, the number of

visits by young people only increased by

410,000.

Access to museums has

not been broadened

Since 1973, the Ministry of Culture

has collated and published the results of

a vast survey entitled “Cultural Practices

in France” (

Les pratiques culturelles des

Français

). The most recent results date

back to 1989, 1997 and 2008 and the

museum attendance indicator produces

a surprising result given the massive

government investment in national

museums:

French people aged 15 and over...

1989

1997

2008

who visited a museum

in the year

30%

33%

30%

who visited an exhibition

in the year

23%

25%

24%

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment

for national museum policy

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

The key to this apparent paradox is

that regular museum-goers visited

museums even more regularly.

The breakdown of visitors accord-

ing to socio-professional category clear-

ly demonstrates that access to museums

has not been broadened:

French people aged 15 years and over

who visited a museum in the year

1989

1997

2008

Farmers

22%

20%

17%

Self-employed, tradespeople, etc.

32%

33%

30%

Executives and higher intellectual

professions

61%

65%

59%

Intermediate professions

43%

38%

Office workers

31%

34%

22%

Workers

23%

22.5%

15%

Retired or not in active employment

21%

30%

29%

In addition, people living outside the

Paris region are also left on the sidelines,

as only Parisians saw an increase in their

“attendance rate”, which rose from 57%

in 1997 to 65% in 2008, while this rate

decreased for everyone else in the

country.

Given the ambition to broaden

access to culture, which is still central to

Ministry of Culture activities, these

results are disappointing.

It is true that museums are at the

end of the line in this initiative, which

should no doubt be supported by edu-

cation policies in arts and culture. The

above failure is therefore not a reproach

directed at museums, but a symptom. As

a new decade dawns, museums must

nevertheless take stock of their results

precisely and with a critical eye to con-

sider how their activities and resources

can best be redirected towards the pro-

posed solutions most likely to promote

a genuine diversification of their audi-

ence.

The paradox of

entrance fees

The last decade opened with a clear

policy in favour of moderating entrance

fees at French national museums. In

particular, the Act of 4 January 2002 on

French museums set out the principle

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment

for national museum policy

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

that: “Museum entrance fees are deter-

mined in such a way as to promote

access for as broad an audience as

possible”.

In spite of this position, national

museums chose to raise admission

charges significantly as of 2003. In the

year 2000, the Louvre and the Palace of

Versailles both charged a standard

entrance fee of €7.01 (i.e. 46 French

francs). By 2011, these fees had risen to

€10 and €15 respectively, representing

an increase of 42% for the Louvre and

114% for Versailles. Over the same peri-

od, inflation only stood at 20%.

In addition to the increase in stan-

dard admission charges, museums

adopted a price strategy to raise the

average cost of a ticket, with the grow-

ing use of “passports” and group tick-

ets, increasingly high admission charges

for temporary exhibitions and stricter

conditions regarding entitlement to

reduced rates.

This contradiction between political

guidelines and museum practice can be

explained to some extent by the fact

that, strategically and politically, the

Ministry of Culture does not intervene

in price matters, which are now docu-

mented and decided on by the museums

alone. While entrance fees have become

major management issues for the muse-

ums, they are no longer seen as levers of

national policy.

There was little risk involved in the

strategy of increasing prices, as “cap-

tive” foreign tourists accounted for two-

thirds of visitors (at the Louvre,

Versailles and Orsay).

Neither does this

strategy appear to have impeded the

increase

total

attendance.

Nevertheless, one cannot completely

rule out the idea that the drop in muse-

um attendance observed in the most

modest socio-professional categories

might be related, albeit indirectly, to

increased entrance fees.

Free admission for

18 to 25-year-olds

and teachers: a

costly measure

that has yet to

prove effective

The decision to offer free admission

to 18 to 25-year-olds and teachers as of

1 April 2009 marked a break with the

tendency in the earlier part of a decade

when museums had taken control over

prices. The cost of implementing this

decision, however, has opened it to

criticism.

Modest ambitions,

disappointing results

The annual performance projec-

tions for the “Cultural” mission made

for 2010 incorporated a new indicator

showing the proportion of 18 to 25-

year-olds among museum visitors. It was

estimated that this proportion reached

11.9% at national museums in 2008.

The target set for 2010 was only 13.8%,

representing a 10% rise in volume per

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment

for national museum policy

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

year, with overall attendance remaining

stable.

Results, however, show that fore-

casting errors were made on such a scale

as to undermine the economics of the

measure. At the end of 2009, nine

months after the measure came into

effect, the proportion of 18 to 25-year-

olds visiting museums was measured at

exactly 7.7%, i.e. 4.2 percentage points

below the estimated starting figure of

11.9%.

The measure has had some impact:

the proportion of 18 to 25-year-olds

visiting permanent collections was esti-

mated at 5.5% during the first quarter

that the measure was implemented, 8%

for the second quarter and 11% for the

third. Annual figures, however, do not

corroborate this progress. Almost no

change was observed in attendance by

age group at the Louvre between 2008

and 2009. The only significant progress

was in the over-60s group. At the Centre

Georges Pompidou, 18 to 25-year-olds

accounted for 9% of visitors between

April 2009 and March 2010, the same

rate as for 2008.

Excessive budgetary

compensation

In 2009, the national museums

received €17.87 million in compensation

for the free admissions initiative, and

€23.15 million in 2010 (including €14.18

million and €18.91 million respectively

for 18 to 25-year-olds). They were not

asked to make any precise commitments

in exchange. The compensation is an

integral part of the grants allocated to

museums as of 2010 and is now

considered permanent.

Given its high cost for public

finances, this choice seems debatable.

While such a measure may have been

justified in the short term, a system

could have been devised where compen-

sation gradually diminished as museums

managed to offset the impact of the

measure by building up their own

resources

through

gains

productivity.

Whatever the case, one result that

can already be clearly seen is the signifi-

cant gap between the actual percentage

of 18 to 25-year-olds as a proportion of

total attendance at permanent collec-

tions and that used to calculate

compensation:

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment

for national museum policy

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

18 to 25-year-olds

Percentage

considered for

compensation

Actual percentage

over the last three

quarters of 2009

Louvre

15.1%

6.5%

Versailles

9.1%

7.5%

CNAC-GP

14.0%

7.9%

Orsay

7.2%

6.1%

Quai Branly

15.0%

18.1%

Guimet

14.3%

10.8%

Rodin

4.2%

5.8%

Decorative arts

13.0%

12.5%

Music Museum

9.5%

4.5%

Gustave Moreau

14.5%

8.1%

SCN museum (designated national service)

12.9%

5.4%

If compensation had been based on

the actual attendance rates of 18 to 25-

year-olds for 2009, the amount allocated

to the leading national museums for that

year would only have been €8.63 mil-

lion, instead of €14.18 million. For

2010, excess compensation paid by the

Government amounted to €7.40 mil-

lion, in other words 40% of the total

granted.

Regarding teachers, there is less

impact in financial terms, although the

gaps are wider. In many cases actual

attendance rates are six times lower than

forecasts (0.5% compared with a 3.5%

estimation at the Louvre and 0.7% com-

pared with a 3.6% estimation at

Versailles). Excess amounts of €2.79

million and €3.72 million were paid out

in 2009 and 2010 respectively to com-

pensate for free admission for teachers.

These sums represent 78% of the total

compensation figure.

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

Free admission for both categories

led to overcompensation of €8.35 mil-

lion in 2009 and €11.36 million in 2010,

making €19.48 million in all.

In spite of this, the Ministry of

Culture has no intention of asking the

museums to pay back the excess

amounts, which have been allocated to

investments. This is only a second-best

solution and is open to question as there

is no evidence that these operations

could not have been funded through

other resources or their cost spread over

a different timescale.

In terms of efficiency strategy, it

would be wiser to abandon a free admis-

sions system that combines high cost

with doubtful efficiency and to redeploy

government funds already allocated to it

in favour of other measures aimed more

specifically at broadening access to

museums and reaching a more diversi-

fied audience.

A decade of expansion for museums,

a decade of disappointment

for national museum policy

Conclusion

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

ver the past decade, museums have financed their development not on their own

resources, but principally on government funding. Actual figures show that

both public funding and staff numbers at museums have risen at a far greater rate than

that observed in most other public services over the same period.

The situation today is not the same as it was in the 2000s, when national muse-

ums developed all their activities at the same time. The need for tighter control of pub-

lic finances also applies to the Ministry of Culture. In this respect, museums should be

expected to meet strict performance obligations in exchange for funding over the coming

ten years. The initiative to make museums independent has proven that it stimulates

growth: it must now demonstrate that it can meet objectives in terms of efficiency and

diversity of audience.

The desire for broader access to culture should have been supported by a more deter-

mined and substantial strategic effort, particularly for the regions. It should have result-

ed in the implementation of better suited price policies to ensure that families and the

most modest socio-professional categories did not encounter “barriers to entry”. In this

light, free admission for 18 to 25-year olds and teachers seems unnecessarily costly com-

pared with other initiatives which target more specifically sectors of the community with

less access to cultural activities.

The Government and Ministry of Culture must respectively define and set up a

new form of regulation that is capable of bringing about a transition from a policy

based on offering to one based on audience, spreading cultural investments evenly

throughout the country and placing efficiency at the heart of national policy.

It is this form of “regulation” that the Cour des Comptes would like to see imple-

mented. For the Ministry of Culture, this implies meeting the economic requirement of

controlling public expenditure, as well as the political and social requirement of pro-

moting broader access to culture.

Recommendations

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

The following 23 operational rec-

ommendations made by the Cour des

Comptes are consistent with the three

strategic goals proposed in this report

for the coming ten years, namely:

making museums more efficient

in anticipation of and in preparation

for less generous direct government

funding;

implementing a more balanced

national policy in favour of the regions

and encouraging museums to develop

their regional activities;

redirecting the resources devot-

ed to an “offering-based policy” to an

“audience-based policy” to promote

greater audience diversity and broader

access to museums.

Recommendations concerning

changes in legal status and the

repositioning of the RMN:

Harmonize the list of national

museums mentioned in the Decree of

31 August 1945, the list of major

departments included in the same

decree and the bodies or institutions in

charge of the national collections;

Ensure that a scientific and cul-

tural plan is produced to support all

decisions to open new museums or

transform existing ones, together with

a precise business plan demonstrating

that the project adopted is relevant in

economic and budgetary terms;

Specify the nature and scope of

RMN competencies listed under the

headings “service provider”, “refer-

ence competencies” and “public serv-

ice missions”.

Recommendations concerning

government regulation:

Send an engagement letter to all

national museum chairpersons and

directors at the time of their appoint-

ment and include in this letter an obli-

gation to complete a long-term per-

formance contract within a given time-

frame;

Include a provision relating to

price policy in the long-term contracts,

together with a section setting out the

relationship of each institution with

the RMN.

Recommendations concerning

patronage:

In the annual performance pro-

jections associated with the govern-

ment budget “Cultural” mission, esti-

mate the amount of tax expenditure

related to patronage and, in particular,

“common law” patronage;

Draw up an “ethical charter for

national museum patronage”, based on

the charter prepared by the Louvre;

Set up a system of approval for

“common law” patronage operations

beyond a certain threshold (€1 million

for example);

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes

Demand a cross-evaluation of

amounts contributed before accepting

patronage in kind beyond a certain

threshold (€1 million for example),

then demand a certified transactions

account before issuing the tax receipt;

Prepare an ethics code govern-

ing the circulation of national collec-

tions that complies with international

standards.

Recommendations concerning

employment:

Make an inventory of security

practices and technological processes

that could bring about gains in produc-

tion in the short and medium terms;

Take inventory results into

account in human resource and com-

petency planning at museums, in par-

ticular to apply the principle of not

replacing at least one in two persons

retiring from national museums over

the next two years;

Put an end to the practice of

“patronage” jobs and ensure that all

jobs are taken into account in the max-

imum figure voted on by parliament.

Recommendations concerning

acquisitions:

Set up long-term acquisition

strategies or, failing this, include the

general outlines of acquisition policies

in scientific and cultural projects or

performance contracts;

In the case of public corpora-

tion museums, replace the “20%” sys-

tem by three- or five-year acquisition

budgets based on resource forecasts,

and for designated national services

(SCN) and small museums, maintain

an acquisition mechanism based on

stable, pooled resources to avoid total

dependence on patronage.

Recommendations concerning

the offering-based policy:

In long-term contracts, stipulate

the objectives and expected results of

the cultural programme in terms of

attendance figures and audience;

Include precise economic objec-

tives in these contracts (in terms of

balance, maximum deficit, minimum

net contribution, etc.) concerning exhi-

bitions, publications, activities and

events that are representative of the

“offering-based policy” by developing

full cost accounting methods.

Recommendations concerning

objectives

relating

broader

cultural access:

In the Ministry of Culture annu-

al performance projections and in

museum long-term contracts, include

objectives and indicators reflecting the

Recommendations

shift in museum policy in favour of the

regions;

Introduce more objectives and

indicators relating to initiatives to pro-

mote broader access to museums in

the long-term contracts;

Ensure the reliability of visitor

counting systems through the use of

harmonized and, possibly, certified

methods and systems.

Recommendations concerning

prices and free admission policies:

Introduce

“recommended

entrance fee” in a museum on an

experimental basis for the duration of

a long-term contract;

Increase initiatives aimed at

schools and build “bridges” between

school and family visits;

Gradually redirect the resources

earmarked for compensation of free

admission measures towards the fund-

ing of innovative initiatives, such as

calls for projects aimed at diversifying

audiences.

Summary

of the Public Thematic Report by the

Cour des Comptes