The lack of openness of French universities and academic institutions has often been pointed out by observers, but for several years French universities and, more generally, the French higher education system as a whole have embarked on an inclusive process. French higher education is moving towards increasing institutional autonomy. In this article we try to show that this system has a number of incentive schemes, collective, through the possibilities offered to institutions to generate own and individual resources through individual bonus schemes. Similarly, universities are subject to much more frequent monitoring mechanisms than is believed to have evolved into elements of an evaluation system. However, the French State’s supervision over its public higher education and research institutions is both too strong and too weak: it is tatillous and poorly targeted, and therefore poorly organised and exercised in the light of the legitimate expectations of society. The idea I would like to promote is ultimately quite simple: it is by increasing the responsibility of institutions through the real development of their autonomy, that we will promote incentive schemes for both individuals and institutions in our country and that an effective evaluation approach will be required as the only means of ensuring real change at the heart of our higher education and research system. There is a need for incentive mechanisms to motivate people, greater autonomy of institutions to make their action more effective and a true evaluation system to ensure transparent management and decision-making processes for partners, and to assess the institutions’ ability to achieve the strategic objectives they have set themselves.