Domaine de Grignon deadlocked - Les Echos

9 years already... ! On March 23, 2015, AgroParisTech voted in favor of moving to Saclay and selling its Ile-de-France sites to finance the move.

Since then, and with twists and turns worthy of a saga, we have been proposing that the French government pursue the vocation of this quasi-national estate to contribute to the necessary transition of agricultural and food systems.

Today online and Wednesday in print, Les Echos publishes a new article (we counted, it's the 15th or 24th!) on the fate of the estate. In it, we learn that the matter is currently being held up by the Ministry of Agriculture, and more specifically by the Directorate General for Education and Research (DGER).

In fact, a mission carried out by the Inspectorate General of Finances and the French Ministry of Agriculture proposes the creation of a renewed public-private partnership. Grignon would remain state-owned, and a management company would be responsible for developing and renovating the estate, bringing together AgroParisTech, local authorities and private parties in a balanced governance structure. And that's just what we wanted.

But as Georges d'Andlau, co-chairman of our association, points out, "for several years now, the Ministry of Agriculture has not been supportive of our project. This is all the more paradoxical given that it aims to find solutions to the agricultural crisis and the necessary agro-ecological transition".

Today, the project is still at an impasse, and the property is deteriorating badly. Part of the perimeter wall has recently collapsed. €100,000 is still being spent every month on a space that is not being developed and is at risk of squatting.

So here we are, probably going to need you once again, we're currently writing to the public authorities, Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal in the first instance. Grignon needs a decision.