The Court of Auditors criticizes the retention of Catherine Pgard at the head of the Château and the estate of Versailles, a position she has held on an interim basis since the official end of her mandate in October 2022, in a report published Tuesday November 7.
Former political journalist, Catherine Pgard was appointed in 2011 by Nicolas Sarkozy. She served three terms – the maximum possible – under three different presidents and remained in office after the last one.
“In addition to the fact that Ms. (Catherine) Pgard today exercises her functions beyond the legal age limit of 67 years (reached in March 2021), she has a number of mandates greater than what is permitted by the statutes of the EPV (Public Establishment of Versailles)”, wrote the Court. Its maintenance, she adds, “could even be assimilated to a form of misuse of power insofar as the absence of designation of a successor for more than twenty-seven months results from a deficiency which reflects on the part of the State, if not a deliberate will of the State, at least a lack of anticipation.”
“An unprecedented situation”
“In the absence of designation of a successor since March 5, 2021, the current situation could be assimilated to a fourth mandate, not authorized by the statutes of the establishment. Such a situation is unprecedented in the field of public cultural establishments “, she emphasizes.
The Court contests “the position of the Ministry of Culture” which, it writes, “maintains that the cumulative number of Catherine Pgard’s mandates does not exceed that provided for in the statutory decree, the current interim situation not constituting a new mandate, (which) seems difficult to sustain”.
On the financial management side, she notes that “the decisions she (Catherine Pgard) takes, as well as those delegated to her directors, could be contested in court, particularly in terms of incurring expenses”.
Furthermore, in a summary statement addressed to the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, and published with the report, the Court of Auditors notes that “a number of dysfunctions” already exposed during a previous inspection concerning Château de Versailles Spectacles persist, entity created in 2003 for shows and entertainment.
She points out in particular the fact that public aid granted during the Covid-19 health crisis has not been the subject of any assessment. In this case, this involves a loan of 3 million euros guaranteed by the State and 3.15 million euros of general and specific aid, to which are added 10 million euros of exceptional subsidies in 2020. and 2021. The court therefore calls for a “detailed assessment of the use of exceptional allocations” and considers that a “restitution action” must be initiated if the funds were used for purposes other than those intended.