Hans-Karl,

In Dutch, the word "titularis" means the person who carries a specific title that is connected to his / her office.
I find the same meaning in French for the word "titulaire"
But that didn't mean that the person exerced the job.

Take my example - in my career I was in some years the titular chief of service in the VAT-administration in Gent but I worked as an interimaris in a higher rank in Brussels, where an office was vacant and not assignet yet, while another person of a lower rank exerced as interimaris my function in Gent.

Marc