Cultural institutions cost money. In purely economic terms, they show a slow increase in productivity and their services will therefore continue to become more expensive compared to others in the highly competitive private sector. When culture is in the public sector, its low productivity creates problems for the control apparatus that handles the financing. When it comes to the spending of tax money, proper housekeeping and discipline are essential. With such little room for manoeuvre, cultural spending has remained at modest levels – 0.8% of the state budget.

The control apparatus can easily procure audit support services. Nowadays, a model called COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission) is used, which was originally a tool for the evaluation of a company's internal control. Public administration is increasingly imitating the private sector, but without abandoning the specific language of public authorities. It is...