The Louvre has become a “state within a state,” according to the chairman of the commission of inquiry into museums, Le Monde with AFP, 19 February 2026
Culture Minister Rachida Dati and Louvre President Laurence des Cars will be heard next week by the National Assembly’s inquiry commission on museum security, its chairman, MP Alexandre Portier (LR), also announced.
The Louvre has “become a state within a state” and the Ministry of Culture must “take back control” to remedy the “chain of malfunctions” that allowed the burglary of October 19, 2025, the president of the commission of inquiry on museum security said on Thursday, 19 February.
Taking stock, at the halfway point, of their work after some 70 hearings, MP (LR) Alexandre Portier and the rapporteur of the commission, Alexis Corbière (ex-LFI), lambasted the management of the most visited museum in the world, in turmoil since the theft of jewels from the French Crown.
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