{"id":584060,"date":"2026-05-14T18:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/584060\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:38:15","slug":"parliamentary-report-calls-for-major-changes-at-french-museums-in-the-wake-of-louvre-heist-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/584060\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliamentary report calls for major changes at French museums in the wake of Louvre heist – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The French government is under pressure to respond to dramatic failures in the security of the country\u2018s museums, which are facing multiple threats. A report<\/a> published on 13 May by the parliamentary commission formed after the heist of the crown jewels<\/a> at the Louvre museum, raises alarms over the \u201cworrying condition\u201d of their collections and proposes 40 recommendations, from raising budgets to overhauling museum leadership.<\/p>\n

While the commission heard approximately 100 testimonies and covered around 2,000 French museums, a special chapter in the report is dedicated to the Louvre, with a damning assessment of former director Laurence des Cars\u2019s reign. According to the MPs, her leadership symbolises a \u201cdysfunctional drift\u201d, favouring contemporary art interventions, fashion shows and gallery renovations over the basic protection of collections. The commission considers that Ms des Cars, who was forced to resign<\/a> in February, \u201crelegated to the background\u201d the updating of the infrastructures which were \u201cdelayed by a little more than two years\u201d, although Ms des Cars claimed in parliament that \u201cthere was no delay\u201d. The report\u2019s authors charge that this policy \u201callowed the 19 October heist to happen\u201d.<\/p>\n

They list a series of rising threats against museums, including rioting, burglaries, cyberattacks (which led the National Museum of Natural History in Paris to cancel an entire exhibition<\/a> after a ransomware attack in July 2025), and terrorist threats (on 11 May, a 27 year-old man was detained<\/a> for plotting jihadist attacks including at the Louvre). In museums, burglaries remain a tiny fraction of art thefts\u2014an average of 18 cases annually over 15 years\u2014but \u201ctheir level of violence has increased\u201d, focussing on jewellery and precious metals. However, the commission insists that these valuable pieces should still remain \u201cby all means visible to the public\u201d. The report requests enhancing staff training and funding for museums across the country, estimating a necessary budget between \u20ac20bn and \u20ac25bn over the course of a decade. Only 54% of museum galleries are protected by cameras and one third of the rooms in the Louvre do not have any.<\/p>\n

Taking the example of the situation at the Louvre, where the director was left \u201cwithout control\u201d, the members of parliament, called d\u00e9put\u00e9s, urge the culture ministry to assess increasing influence on national museums\u2019 management. The commission raises doubts about the colossal project for a new entrance leading to a subterranean complex in the Louvre. Signaling that 50 floods were registered over 12 years in French museums, it insists on the risks of floods to which the remaining Louvre storage is already subjected. Denouncing the \u201chyper-presidency\u201d that crippled the Louvre, the d\u00e9put\u00e9s now demand \u201cmore transparency and democracy\u201d in the appointment of directors, which are currently chosen by the French president. Considering that this \u201cfait du prince\u201d encourages directors to adopt an event-driven policy, the report calls for the setting up of effective boards of trustees, inspired by the British Museum\u2019s example, where the parliament would be represented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The French government is under pressure to respond to dramatic failures in the security of the country\u2018s museums,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,819,86007,10345,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-584060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-france","tag-musee-du-louvre","tag-museums-heritage","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}