Sylvie Retailleau : « Pendant cinq ans, tout a été remis en jeu »

Sylvie Retailleau, former French Minister of Higher Education and current president of Universcience since January 2026, details the tense negotiations between the Grand Palais and the Palais de la découverte. She reveals that the Palais de la découverte nearly disappeared during the Grand Palais renovation, but will reopen in March 2027. Universcience ceded a 1,200 m² gallery to the Grand Palais as a financial contribution (worth about €30 million over ten years) and is lending another 350 m² gallery until June 2030 for Centre Pompidou exhibitions during its renovation. In exchange, Universcience gains full control over the programming of the Palais des enfants.

What the renovation of the Pergamon Museum costs

Was die Sanierung des Pergamonmuseums kostet

The Pergamon Museum in Berlin is undergoing a major renovation with a total budget of €1.5 billion for both construction phases, including cost risks. The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR) has announced that current projections indicate the overall costs will not be exceeded. Phase A, which includes the hall housing the famous Pergamon Altar, is expected to open on June 4, 2027, with a potential cost increase of up to 5% over the originally approved €489 million. Phase B, covering the Ishtar Gate and Babylonian Processional Way, has seen its cost forecast reduced by €27 million to €722.4 million, with an additional €295.6 million set aside for risks and price increases. The museum will fully reopen only in 2037.

Why Italy's cultural wealth never really enters public accounts and budgets?

Perché la ricchezza culturale italiana non entra mai davvero nei conti e nei bilanci pubblici?

Italy has exceeded the European Commission's structural adjustment path by 0.1 percentage points of GDP, reopening fiscal scrutiny. Amid this debate, the article highlights a deeper issue: Italy's immense cultural heritage is drastically undervalued in public accounts. For example, the Pompeii Archaeological Park is recorded at just €48.9 million, the Colosseum at under €15 million, and the Uffizi at about €2 billion—figures based on outdated 2002 ministerial criteria that bear no relation to actual economic or cultural worth. The State General Accounting Office, with the University of Roma Tre and EU technical assistance, has proposed a new methodology to value cultural assets by discounting their future net financial flows, including direct revenues and indirect tourism-related returns.