#2026-359France updates governance rules for public agricultural higher education institutions
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This decree updates how France’s public agricultural higher education institutions are organized and run. It changes internal governance rules, election procedures, board mandates, leadership responsibilities, and the naming and structure of several institutions, including Oniris VetAgroBio Nantes and Institut Agro. The practical impact is mainly administrative. Schools, boards, students, teaching staff, research units, and ministry officials will need to apply the new rules for future board renewals, electronic voting, student representative terms, research budget delegation, and the new “bachelor agro” degree pathway.
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Key Changes
- Updates governance and election rules for public agricultural higher education institutions, including electronic voting and clearer voting systems.
- Allows student representative mandates to be extended to two years and adjusts board mandate and renewal rules.
- Adds the national first-cycle agronomy degree known as “bachelor agro” to the missions and diplomas of several institutions.
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Obligations
What this law requires
Public agricultural higher education institutions must conduct elections for members of the board of directors, scientific council, and teaching and student life council by one-round list voting without vote-splitting or preferential voting, using proportional representation with remaining seats allocated by highest average.
Public agricultural higher education institutions must conduct elections for members of the teachers' council by two-round multi-member majority voting, or by two-round single-member majority voting where only one seat is to be filled.
If an institution uses electronic voting for council elections, it must comply with Articles R. 211-508 to R. 211-584 of the General Civil Service Code.
Council members' mandates must end when the member loses the status under which they were elected or appointed.
The minister responsible for agriculture may extend council members' mandates only once, for a maximum of one year, and only for a general-interest reason on proposal of the council president.