Catherine Pégard, who succeeded Rachida Dati at the Culture ministry, wants to focus on security at the Louvre as part of the museum’s renovation plan.
Catherine Pégard, the new Culture minister, stated on Monday that the extensive renovation plan for the Louvre, announced for 2025 by Emmanuel Macron, should be “adjusted” to “better integrate” security issues and address vulnerabilities exposed by the October 19 break-in.
Evaluated at over one billion euros, the Louvre New Renaissance plan, which includes renovating the existing building and creating a new space for the Mona Lisa, was presented by the museum’s former management as the solution to the establishment’s dysfunctions.
Put on hold since the burglary, this plan “remains essential for the Louvre to be present in this 21st century, as it was in the 20th, as the world’s largest museum,” stated Ms. Pégard in her first interview on France Inter since taking over from Rachida Dati at the end of February.
However, she added, “we will work to adjust certain aspects of this plan, strengthen others, and possibly clarify the specifications to better integrate security and safety concerns.”
The minister aims to highlight “security and safety perhaps more than has been done before,” while “telling the story of the magnificence of the future Louvre.” “It’s not one or the other,” added this former president of the Palace of Versailles.
Budgetary Constraints
This plan faced an initial setback with the indefinite postponement in February of designating the group of architects responsible for the Louvre’s redevelopment.
Catherine Pégard also affirmed her intention to make the time remaining before the 2027 presidential election a “useful year” for culture, “useful for opening up culture to all, but also useful for artists.”
She acknowledged, however, that her actions will be limited by budgetary constraints, which have already led to a reduction of 173.4 million in credits allocated to Culture this year (out of 3.7 billion euros excluding audiovisual).
“It is obvious that it will be extremely difficult because we must contribute to the common effort,” she explained, stating that she is trying to “protect” the current budget for 2027 and “scrape together a few additional grants that we urgently need.”
