Key Benefits:
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of Culture and Communications,
Considering the code of the state domain;
In view of the amended Decree No. 90-1026 of 14 November 1990 on the Meeting of National Museums;
In view of Decree No. 95-463 of 27 April 1995 establishing the Public Establishment of the Museum and the National Area of Versailles, as amended by Decree No. 96-1034 of 27 November 1996, Decree No. 2002-853 of 2 May 2002 and Decree No. 2003-275 of 21 March 2003;
In view of Decree No. 99-575 of 8 July 1999 on the modalities for approval of certain financial decisions of State public institutions;
Having regard to Decree No. 2002-628 of 25 April 2002 for the application of Law No. 2002-5 of 4 January 2002 on the museums of France;
Having regard to Decree No. 2002-853 of 2 May 2002 on the employment status of the Secretary General of the Public Institution of the Museum and the National Area of Versailles;
Having regard to the advice of the technical committee of the Public Establishment of the Museum and the national domain of Versailles dated 30 June 2003;
Considering the opinion of the technical committee of the management of the museums of France dated 9 July 2003;
Having regard to the advice of the ministerial technical committee dated 11 September 2003;
The State Council (inland section) heard,
Decrete:
The above-mentioned decree of 27 April 1995 is amended in accordance with articles 2 to 20 of this decree.
I. - The first four paragraphs of Article 2 are replaced by the following:
"In the framework of its scientific and cultural project, the Public Institution of the Museum and the National Area of Versailles is dedicated to:
« 1° To preserve, protect, restore on behalf of the State and to manage, develop and present to the public the cultural property that are part of the collections listed on the inventories of the National Museum of the Palaces of Versailles and Trianon, and its annexes, of which it has custody as well as of the domain constituted of the buildings of which it is equipped or to use according to the conditions provided for in Article 7;
« 2° To contribute to the enrichment of national collections by the acquisition of cultural property, on behalf of the State, on an expensive or free basis;
« 3° To ensure in the castles, museum and domain of which it has the responsibility, and by any appropriate means, the reception of the widest public, to develop its attendance, to promote their knowledge and that of their collections, to design and implement educational and dissemination actions aimed at ensuring equal access of all to culture. »
II. - The 6° is replaced by the following:
« 6° Organize performances including music, theatre or ballet in castles, museum and estate; »
III. - An eighth preambular paragraph added to the same article:
"For the accomplishment of his missions, he cooperates with the various administrations and affectionates and occupants of the field, as well as with public authorities and bodies of public or private, French or foreign law, pursuing objectives that meet his vocation. In particular, he can join the Baroque Music Centre of Versailles under the conditions provided for in Article 5. »
It is inserted after section 2, an article 2-1 and an article 2-2 as follows:
"Art. 2-1. - The establishment carries out, on its resources and on behalf of the State, the acquisition of free or expensive cultural property to enrich its national collections.
"For property that is less than the thresholds defined by an order of the Minister for Culture, the acquisition is decided by the president of the establishment after notice of the acquisition commission of the establishment. In the event of an unfavourable opinion of the commission of the establishment and when the president maintains his will to acquire, the director of the museums of France takes the artistic council of the national museums for advice.
"For property that is equal to or greater than these thresholds, the acquisition is decided after notice of the commission of acquisitions of the establishment and then notice of the artistic council of national museums. In the event of an unfavourable opinion of the artistic council of national museums and when the president of the institution maintains his will to acquire, the minister responsible for culture is pronounced.
"The records submitted to the institution's acquisition commission are considered before the scientific council.
"Art. 2-2. - The composition and operating procedures of the acquisition commission, chaired by the Director General of the public establishment, are defined by order of the Minister responsible for culture. »
Section 3 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 3. - The Meeting of National Museums shall exercise in respect of the National Museum of Versailles and Trianon the powers provided for by the decree of 14 November 1990 referred to above, with the exception of those provided for in the provisions of the seventh paragraph of Article 6 and 2 and 3 of Article 12 of the same Decree.
"The conventions mentioned in the last paragraph of Article 2 of the same decree are concluded between the Meeting of National Museums and the Public Establishment of the Museum and the National Area of Versailles. These include the following conditions:
“(a) Organization of exhibitions;
“(b) To produce various publications;
"(c) Organization of visits-conferences;
"(d) To make available to the Meeting of National Museums the necessary spaces for the exercise of its mission to distribute the products derived from the works preserved in the national museums and the works that are devoted to them, as well as the amount of the royalty paid to the institution.
"The public institution can also entrust by convention the organization of visits-conferences to the National Monuments Centre. »
Section 6 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 6. - The scientific and cultural policy of the public institution, its activities and its investments are the subject of a multi-year contract with the State.
"This contract sets targets for the establishment and provides the means and jobs that must be allocated to it. »
In Article 8, the words "and the Director General" are added after the words "consisting of the President".
Section 11 is replaced by the following:
“Art. 11. - The cultural property and the collections mentioned in articles 2 and 2-1 are part of the public domain of the State and are, as such, inalienable.
"The Minister for Culture may make changes in the allocation between the national museums referred to in section 1 of the above-mentioned Decree of 31 August 1945, of all or part of the cultural property and collections whose public establishment has custody, including those acquired pursuant to the provisions of section 2-1 of this Decree, after notice of the board of directors of the institution, the scientific council and the artistic council of the national museums. »
Section 13 is amended as follows:
I. - In the first sentence, the words "seventeen" are replaced by the words "eight."
II. - At 1°, the word "six" is replaced by the word "five" and the words " - the Chief Tax Officer or his representative;" are deleted.
III. - The 3° is replaced by the following:
« 3° Five personalities chosen because of their competence or functions, including one because of their knowledge of the public of national museums, designated by decree of the Minister for Culture. »
IV. - At 5°, the word "two" is replaced by the word "three".
V. - It is added a 6° as follows:
« 6° The mayor of Versailles. »
In Article 14, the second sentence of the second paragraph shall be replaced by the following provisions:
"However, their travel and living expenses may be reimbursed under the conditions prescribed by the regulations applicable to State officials. »
Section 16 is amended as follows:
I. - After the first preambular paragraph, a new preambular paragraph is inserted:
"In the event of absence or incapacity of the President, the Board of Directors may be convened by the Director General. The Board of Directors then elects a sessional chair among the personalities mentioned in the 3rd of Article 13. »
II. - In the second sentence of the fourth paragraph, which became the fifth, after the words: "members present" are added the words "or represented".
III. - After the fifth preambular paragraph, it was added a seventh preambular paragraph to read:
"A member of the board of directors, other than a member of law or a member with an alternate, may give, in writing, a warrant to another member to represent him at a session. Each member can only receive one term. »
Section 17 is amended as follows:
I. - The 1st is replaced by the following:
« 1° It determines the scientific and cultural policy of the establishment, within the framework of the orientations established by the State; in particular, it approves the scientific and cultural project of the establishment as well as the program of temporary exhibitions and the orientations of the programming of other cultural activities; »
II. - At 2°, the words "object contract" are replaced by the words "multi-year contract".
III. - The 8th is thus completed: "It may, under the conditions it determines, delegate these powers to the president; "
IV. - At 9°, after the word: "concessions" are added the words: "authorizations of occupation and exploitation of the public domain, public service delegations. "
V. - At 10°, the words: " borrowings" are added after the words: "he approves"; the words "as well as participation in public interest groups or associations" are added after the word "subsidiaries".
VI. - A 16° and 17° are added:
« 16° It determines the general terms and conditions of employment and remuneration of contractual agents;
« 17° It approves the conventions passed by the establishment with the National Museums Meeting and the National Monuments Centre pursuant to Article 3. »
Article 18 is as follows:
“Art. 18. - The deliberations of the board of directors other than those mentioned in the following paragraphs shall become enforceable in full law fifteen days after they have been received by the Minister responsible for culture if he has not made any observations within that period. The same is true of the decisions of the President made by delegation of the board of directors pursuant to section 17, subject to the prior agreement of the financial controller for the decisions relating to transactions.
"The proceedings relating to the 4th and 9th of section 17 shall be carried out in full law fifteen days after they have been received by the Minister for Culture and the Minister for Budget if none of them has made any observations within that period. Those relating to the 16th of the same article become enforceable under the same conditions, but within one month.
"To become enforceable, the proceedings relating to 1°, 10°, 12° and 17° of Article 17 must be expressly approved by the Minister responsible for culture; those relating to 10° and 12° of the same section must also be expressly approved by the Minister responsible for the budget.
"The deliberations on the budget or its amendments as well as on the financial account mentioned respectively in the 5th and 7th of Article 17 are approved by the ministers responsible for culture and budget under the conditions set out in Decree No. 99-575 of 8 July 1999 on the modalities for approval of certain financial decisions of the State public institutions. »
Section 18-1 is amended as follows:
I. - At 4°, the words ", no transfer of credits between the capital operations section and the operating section" are deleted.
II. - An 8°, a 9°, a 10° and an 11° are added:
« 8° He grants housing concessions after having collected the opinions of the housing commission of the institution and the director of tax services and without any other formality;
« 9° It signs contracts and agreements involving the establishment; he is the person responsible for the markets;
« 10° It concludes the transactions and passes the acquisition, exchange and sale of buildings, authorized under the conditions set out in section 17;
« 11° He decides, on behalf of the Minister for Culture, acquisitions under the conditions set out in section 2-1; subject to the provisions of articles L. 15 and L. 19 of the State domain code, it accepts gifts and bequests made for acquisitions. »
III. - The last paragraph is replaced by the following:
"He reports on his management to the Board of Directors. »
An article 18-2 is inserted as follows:
"Art. 18-2. - For acts performed as a person responsible for the contracts, the President may delegate his signature to the deputy head and, in the event of absence or incapacity of the deputy head, to the head of the parks and buildings within the limits of his or her competence. For other acts, he may delegate his signature to the Director General, to the deputy head and to those responsible for the establishment's services, and in the event of their incapacity, to other officers under his authority.
"In the event of the President's incapacity, for any reason, the duties of an agent are temporarily exercised by the deputy head for the day-to-day performance of the institution's revenues and expenses. »
The last paragraph of section 19 is replaced by the following provisions:
"He may delegate his signature to the secretary general, the institution's service officials and the institution's Conservatives. »
It is inserted, after Article 20, an article 20-1 as follows:
"Art. 20-1. - It is created a scientific council of the establishment, chaired by the Director General, and composed of the curators of the museum and the estate as well as the chief architects of the historical monuments and architects of the buildings of France competent for the castle and the estate.
"This board is consulted on scientific and museological issues, including those relating to the field and space occupations, on the direction of the institution's cultural policy before they are submitted to the board of directors, and on any other matter submitted to it by the director general or the president of the institution.
"When consulted on the projects for the acquisition of cultural property under section 2-1, on the changes in the allocation provided for in section 11, on loans and deposits of cultural property and collections of which the public institution has custody or on exhibition programs, it sits in a restricted training for the curators of the museum.
"The deputy head attends meetings of the Scientific Council with an advisory voice.
"The Director General may invite to attend the meetings any other person whom he or she considers useful presence.
"The Director General shall collect the agreement of the President of the Public Institution on matters submitted to the Scientific Council and keep him informed of the content of his notices. »
An article 22-1 is added as follows:
"Art. 22-1. - By derogation from article L. 47 of the State domain code, royalties due to the authorizations for temporary occupation of buildings handed over to the public institution are collected by the public institution. »
Section 23 is repealed.
In the last paragraph of Article 24, the words: "the payment to the Meeting of National Museums referred to in Article 23 of this Decree" are replaced by the words: "the acquisitions of cultural property referred to in Article 2(1)".
Sections 26 and 27 are repealed.
In the decree of 27 April 1995 and the decree of 2 May 2002 referred to above, the words "the secretary general" are replaced by the words "the deputy head".
This Order will come into force on January 1, 2004, with the exception of the provisions of section IV of the Order, which will come into force on the expiry date of the current mandate of staff representatives to the Board of Directors of the Public Institution.
The Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, the Minister of Culture and Communication, the Minister of Public Service, State Reform and Land Management, the Minister Delegate for Budget and Budgetary Reform and the Secretary of State for State Reform are responsible, each with regard to the issue, for the execution of this decree, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, December 26, 2003.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
By the Prime Minister:
Minister of Culture
and communication,
Jean-Jacques Aillagon
Minister of Economy,
finance and industry,
Francis Mer
The Minister of Public Service,
of State Reform
and landscaping,
Jean-Paul Delevoye
Minister for Budget
and budgetary reform,
Alain Lambert
State Secretary for State Reform,
Henri Plagnol
