The missions of the college
1- Article L124-2 of the General Code of the Public Service provides that “every public servant has the right to consult a professional ethics officer”. Decree No. 2017-519 of April 10, 2017 provided for the creation of ethical referents in administrations. order of 10 April 2018, as amended by an Order of 12 March 2019 and by an Order of 13 April 2022, the function of a professional ethics officer has been entrusted to the cultural administrations of civil servants and contractual agents, including those under private law (central administration and decentralized services of the Ministry of Culture, services with national competence, public institutions under the supervision of the Ministry) to a college of ethics.
The College is responsible, in particular, for ethical referent, to provide the heads of departments and officials of cultural administrations with the necessary advice to implement their ethical obligations.
Is an agent at risk of being in a conflict of interest situation? How to prevent or stop such a situation? Is it possible to accept gifts or invitations? What ancillary activities can an agent perform? Can an agent quit his duties and go to work in the private sector? These are some of the questions – among many others – on which the College’s advice can be sought.
The college can also accompany a service or an institution that takes an overall approach to improve the consideration of ethical issues (ethical risk mapping, ethics charter, training, etc.).
In particular, many departments or institutions are considering developing a code of ethics. How should such an approach be conducted? What does such a document consist of? How can it be used after its adoption?
The College of Ethics has prepared a small practical guide «Developing a code of ethics».
2- The college was also designated as secular referent for all agents of cultural administrations.
Article 3 of Law No. 2021-1109 of 24 August 2021 consolidating the principles of the Republic (now codified in Article L 124-3 of the General Code of the Civil Service) provides, in the administrations of the State and its public institutions, the appointment of a secular referent, responsible “for providing any useful advice to respect the principle of secularism to any official or head of department who consults him”.
Pursuant to Article 4 of the same Law, Decree No. 2021-1802 of 23 December 2021 on the referent secularism in the public service specifies, in Article 5, the missions of the referent secularism:
- advice to heads of departments and public officials on the implementation of the principle of secularism, in particular by analysing and responding to requests from them concerning individual situations or general issues;
- the awareness of public officials about the principle of secularism and the dissemination of information about this principle within the administration concerned;
- the organization, at its level and if necessary in coordination with other secular referents, of the day of secularism on 9 December each year.
The College carries out this mission in the same manner as its mission as a professional ethics officer and is competent for all staff and heads of service of the Ministry and its public institutions.
3- The college is finally referral alerts.
He is the referent mentioned in the first paragraph of I of Article 8 of Law no. 2016-1691 of 9 December 2016 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life. However, as stated in Article 2 bis of the Decree of 10 April 2018 on the creation, composition and powers of the Ethics College of the Ministry of Culture, staff of a public establishment may send him a report only if the competent body of the establishment has taken a decision by which it has decided that such a procedure is applicable to its staff. In the absence of such deliberation, it is up to the institution to set up its own system for collecting alerts.
The College is therefore responsible for collecting and processing alerts issued by officials of the Ministry or by officials of attached public institutions whose board of directors has taken a decision entrusting it with this mission, according to the procedures defined by the order of 12 March 2019 on the procedure for collecting reports issued by whistleblowers within the Ministry of Culture.
For an overview of the missions of the college, its organization and its operating procedures, refer to the annual activity reports published on this site:
The composition of the College
The Ethics College of the Ministry of Culture is chaired by a member of the Council of State appointed on the proposal of the Vice-President of the Council of State. It also includes four qualified persons and four staff members who have worked in the departments or establishments under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture.
The following members have been appointed by order of the April 15, 2021 and the 1 March 2023 :
Chair: Alain Ménéménis, honorary state councillor.
Qualified Personalities:
- Emmanuel Aubin, professor at the University of Tours;
- Gaëlle Dumortier, State Councillor (Vice-President of the College);
- Fabrice Melleray, professor at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (vice-president of the college);
- Arnaud Oseredczuk, Chief Adviser to the Court of Auditors.
Departmental Officers:
- Claire Chérie, Inspector General of Cultural Affairs;
- David Guillet, General Curator of Heritage;
- Anne Matheron, former regional director of cultural affairs of Burgundy-Franche-Comté;
- Sylviane Tarsot-Gillery, Inspector General of Cultural Affairs
Corporate Secretary: Florence Ibarra, Executive Director.
Ethical correspondents and secular correspondents
Pursuant to Article 9 of the Decree of 10 April 2018 on the creation, composition and powers of the College of Ethics of the Ministry of Culture, Ethics correspondents and secular correspondents are appointed by those responsible for central administration services, decentralized services, services with national competence and public institutions under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture.
The persons in charge of these services and establishments may choose to designate, for a service or an establishment, only one person as the ethical referent and as the secular referent or two persons. They can also designate ethical and/or secular referents common to several entities.
The correspondents constitute a network led by the College of Ethics. If requests for opinions are sent to them by agents or department heads, they shall forward them to the College. The college may, for its part, refer to the correspondents the handling of a question referred to it by an officer or head of department where information or a reminder of the obligations permits a sufficient answer.
The College ensures that the ethics correspondents and the secular correspondents contribute, in each service and each institution, to the awareness of the agents to the questions of ethics and secularity and to their formation in these fields.
Refer to the College of Ethics
Any officer, head of department of the Ministry of Culture and its institutions who so wishes may refer a request for an opinion to the College by addressing it to:
- or by email on the functional box: deontologie@culture.gouv.fr
- either by post to the address: Collège de déontologie du ministère de la Culture - 3 rue de Valois - 75001 PARIS
When the referral is incomplete or imprecise, the college contacts its author to clarify the terms. After a collegial deliberation and within a period appropriate to the more or less urgent nature of the referral, the opinion of the college shall be sent confidentially to the person making the referral.