According to Article R.451-2 of the French Heritage Code, the acquisition projects of museums bearing the name «musée de France» in the region, excluding national museums, free of charge (manual donation, notarial donation, donation subject to usufruct or bequests) or onerous are subject to the opinion of the CSRA.
Requests for regularization of objects entered into museum collections without prior notice from the CSRA may be subject to retrospective instruction mainly as part of post-collection operations. 
The criteria for the entry of a property into the "musée de France" collection are:

• The artistic, historical, scientific and heritage interest of the object;
• The relevance of the acquisition with regard to the Scientific and Cultural Project (PSC) of the museum, in particular its enrichment policy, and the progress of its collection;
• The state of the object and its integrity: a detailed state report made either by the scientific teams of the museum or by an authorized restorer and not by the owner or seller of the work; 
• The origin of the cultural property: the curator must trace the history of the different owners in order to verify that it is neither stolen nor looted with particular vigilance for the period 1933 – 1945. In case of doubt, it is strongly advised to approach David Zivie, M2rs - mission of research and restitution of cultural property stolen between 1933 and 1945: m2rs.saji@culture.gouv.fr;
• The justification of the price of the object based on the art market.

The regional scientific commissions for acquisitions in plenary session are organized twice a year in the Paca region. 

CSRA Timelines:
* 2024
* 2025

For acquisitions motivated by an emergency, especially during auctions, the museum can refer the commission in the form of a permanent delegation (DP). 
To use the permanent delegation, it is necessary to take the attaché of the museum advisor (sandrine.vezilier@culture.gouv.fr) who will take charge of forwarding the request to the elected members of the DP.

In both procedures (CSRA or DP), it is imperative that museums submit the prescribed form with a substantiated rationale for the interest of the cultural property being purchased. 
The file will be declared complete if it includes the following supporting documents:

• An accompanying letter containing the acquisition project(s), signed by the owner of the collections;
• The form duly completed by filling in each field concerned by the cultural property;
• A detailed record of his scientific interest (minimum 3000 characters);
• Photographs in good definition of the work from several angles for three-dimensional objects, the reverse and the face for paintings, graphic arts and photographs.

Download:  CSRA and DP form

At the same time as the dossier is put together, museums must seek the advice of the Major Departments concerned and the curator in charge of scientific animation and networks (BASR) at the Service des Musées de France (SMF). It is advisable to send this notice to the DRAC Museums Department before the date of the CSRA.

As the opinion of the CSRA (in its plenary form or in RFP) is consultative, the museum may take the responsibility of listing in the regulatory inventory a cultural property that has received a notice reserved or unfavourable on the condition that it be carried over. In the event of an unfavourable opinion, no State subsidy may be granted either for the acquisition (FRAM) or for subsequent preventive conservation or restoration operations.

The regional fund for the acquisition of museums (FRAM) is an equal co-financing of the State (DRAC-PACA) and the Region (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) to support enrichment in the collections of museums in France. It is subject to the favourable opinion of the CSRA (circular 2003-003 of 5 March 2003 art.10 and 11). Furthermore, FRAM’s request comes after the acquisition of the cultural property. 
The FRAM Committee meets once a year. FRAM grants are awarded either by the State or the Region; the Regulation also allows for joint funding. According to the public accounting rule, the subsidy rate cannot exceed 80% of the amount of the acquisition; on average, it varies between 30 and 50%, the rate depending on the number and value of the cultural goods offered to the FRAM. 
The filing of files is a duplicated procedure: for the DRAC, the referral is made via Simplified Procedures – and for the Regional Council on their platform.

FRAM 2024 Schedule:

The Fund is allocated primarily to the purchase of works considered as national treasures, as well as works recognized as “of major heritage interest”.
The Heritage Fund may be combined with FRAM provided that the FRAM share is charged to the Region’s appropriations, thus respecting the rule of public accounting of non-cumulation of subsidy for the same operation. 
The official letter and dossier should be sent to Christelle Creff, Head of the French Museums Service and sent by e-mail to: Claire Chastanier (claire.chastanier@culture.gouv.fr) and Christine Germain-Donnat (christine.germain-donnat@culture.gouv.fr), with a copy to the museum advisor.