Bonum Certa Men Certa

Battistelli's Furious Love Affair With French Power: Part III

ÉNASummary: A deeper look at Benoît Battistelli's ÉNA connections, rise to power at the EPO, and the “two Alpha males in the room [who] don't always listen,” according to Alison Brimelow (the previous President) before she stepped down

THE first and second part of this series (together with the teaser) highlighted the concentration of power around current (not just former) EPO President, Mr. Battistelli. We went back in time to his INPI days and also some of his professional connections, education (ÉNA), etc. We are hoping to show readers what makes Battistelli so confident and unafraid of public scrutiny. This series will culminate in the fourth part (next week), so today we hope to just share some input we have received during the week, in response to the first couple of parts.



One E-mail referred to EPO-ÉNA overlap. It told me, "thank you for the excellent investigation work. Here a document that may be of interest."

It's about Pierre Mendès France and ÉNA-based promotions (janvier 1976/mai 1978). Looking at the English article in Wikipedia, he was somewhat of an anti-imperialism person and this Wikipedia article speaks about École nationale d'administration role in promotion of all sorts of people. Among the notable alumni or connections which we had listed to us were the following individuals (which would probably mean something mostly to our French readers):

M. Ronny ABRAHAM

M. Jérôme ADAM

M. Jack ALZON

M. François ARCANGELI

M. Jacques ARRIGHI-DE-CASANOVA

M. Jean-François AUBY

M. Marc-Antoine AUTHEMAN

M. Jean-Marie AUVINET-Jean-Marie

M. Dominique BABIN-Dominique

M. Bertrand BACHE-Bertrand

M. Jacques BACHELIN-Jacques

M. Claude BALLADE-Claude

M. Jean-François BALTHAZAR-Jean-Francois

M. Eric BARRAULT-Eric

M. François BARRY-MARTIN-DELONGCHAMPS-Francois

Mme Christine BARTHET

M. Benoît BATTISTELLI-Benoit

M. Edouard BERLET-Edouard

M. Georges BERTHU-Georges

Mme Geneviève BERTRAND-Genevieve

M. Pierre-Etienne BISCH-Pierre-Etienne

M. Henri-Charles BLANC-Henri-Charles

M. Xavier BLANDIN-Xavier

M. Pierre BLAYAU-Pierre

M. Jean-François BOITTIN-Jean-Francois

M. Claude BONNET-Claude

M. Alain BOROWSKI-Alain

M. Alain BOURDELAT-Alain

M. Antoine BOUSQUET-Antoine

M. Hervé BREHIER-Herve

M. François BURDEYRON-Francois

M. Daniel CADOUX-Daniel

M. Philippe CALAVIA-Philippe

M. Daniel CANEPA-Daniel

M. Paul-Marie CHAVANNE-Paul-Marie

M. Bernard COCHEME-Bernard

M. Etienne COFFIN-Etienne

M. Charles COPPOLANI-Charles

M. Jean-Paul CORDEAU-Jean-Paul

M. Jean-François CORDET-Jean-Francois

M. Jean-Paul COSTE-Jean-Paul

M. François COUSIN-Francois

M. Henry CUNY-Henry

Mme Yvonne CUVIER-Yvonne

M. Henri-Jérôme DEGRELLE

M. Yann DELABRIERE-Yann

M. Dominique DELAUNAY-Dominique

M. Denis DELBOURG-Denis

Mme Marie-Christine DEMORTIER-Marie-Christine

M. Philippe DESLANDES-Philippe

M. François DESPORTES-Francois

M. Christian DIDIER-Christian

M. Robert DOMENGET-Robert

M. Francis DOUBLET-Francis

M. Alain DOYELLE-Alain

M. Michel DUCLOS-Michel

M. Jean-Michel DUMOND-Jean-Michel

M. Jean-Yves DUPUIS-Jean-Yves

M. Patrice DURAND-Patrice

M. Pierre DUVERNEY-GUICHARD

M. Jean-Marc ESPALIOUX-Jean-Marc

M. Bela FARAGO-Bela

M. Pascal FATON-Pascal

M. Gilbert FAUBERT

M. Claude FAURE-Claude

M. Guillaume FERRY-Guillaume-de

M. René FORCEVILLE-Rene

M. Patrice FORGET-Patrice

M. Christian FORMAGNE-Christian

M. José FRECHES-Jose

Mme Anne-Marie FROMENT-MEURICE-Anne-Marie

Mme Michèle GALLOT-Michele

M. Antoine GEORGES-PICOT-Antoine

M. Jacques GERARD-Jacques

M. Michel GIES-Michel

M. Eric GIUILY-Eric

M. Jean-Noël GIULIANI-Jean-Noel

M. Christian GOURNAY-Christian-de

M. Philippe GREGOIRE-Philippe

M. Serge GROSS-Serge

Mme Annick GUERBER-LE-GALL-Annick

Mme Isabelle HAUSSER-DUCLOS-Isabelle

M. Jean-Pierre HEMMERY-Jean-Pierre

M. Paul HERMELIN-Paul

Mme Véronique HESPEL-Veronique

M. François JACLOT-Francois

M. Bruno JOUBERT-Bruno,3080>)

M. Jean-François KRAFT-Jean-Francois

M. Louis KREISS-Louis

M. Antoine LABBE-Antoine

M. Bruno LASSERRE-Bruno

M. Michel LAVENSEAU-Michel

Mme Bettina LAVILLE-Bettina

M. Jean-Pierre LE COURT

M. Alain LEFOULON-Alain

M. Hervé LEHERISSEL-Herve

M. Bernard LEMAIRE-Bernard

M. François LE-PULOCH-Francois

M. Bertrand LEROY-Bertrand

M. Pierre LETOCART-Pierre

Mme Marianne LEVY-ROSENWALD-Marianne

M. Denis LOUDENOT-Denis

M. Yves MAGNE-Yves

M. Etienne MARIE-Etienne

M. Jean-Michel MARLAUD-Jean-Michel

M. Yves MARMION-Yves

M. Arsène MATTY-Arsene

M. Gérard MESTRALLET-Gerard

Mme Bénédicte MONROE-Benedicte

M. Gérard MOULIN-Gerard

Mme Monique MOUSSEAU-Monique

M. Henri ODART-DE-RILLY-DOYSONVILLE-Henri

M. Patrick OLIVIER-Patrick

M. Marc OLLIVIER-Marc

Mme Dominique PAGANT-Dominique

M. Bernard PAYS-Bernard

M. Michel PELISSIER-Michel

M. Jacques PERREAULT-Jacques

M. René PICON-DUPRE-Rene

M. Michel PINAULDT-Michel

M. Marc PINGUET-Marc

M. Bertrand POPLU-Bertrand

Mme Bérengère QUINCY-Berengere

M. Bruno RAIFAUD-Bruno

M. Gérard RAMEIX-Gerard

M. Philippe REY-Philippe

M. Claude REYNOIRD-Claude

M. Jean de RIBES-Jean-de

M. François RIEGERT-Francois

M. Yvon ROE-DALBERT-Yvon

M. Patrick ROUSSEL-Patrick

M. François ROUSSELY-Francois

M. Jacques ROUVIERE-Jacques

M. Alexis RUSET-Alexis

M. Gilles SANSON-Gilles

M. Thierry SCHWARZ-Thierry

Mme Marie-Paule SERRE-Marie-Paule

M. Hervé SOULIE-Herve

M. Pierre SOUTOU-Pierre

M. Jean-François STOLL-Jean-Francois

Mme Muriel SZILBER de SZILBEREKY-Muriel

Mme Annie TARGA-Annie

M. Yves TERRASSE-Yves

M. Jean-Marc TEULIERES-Jean-Marc

M. Bertrand THONNARD DU TEMPLE (Bernard ?)

M. Hervé THOUROUDE-Herve

M. Henri TOUTEE-Henri

M. Michel TOUVEREY-Michel

M. Jean-Maurice VERBOIS-Jean-Maurice

M. Jean-Louis VERGNOLLE-Jean-Louis

M. François VEVERKA-Francois

M. Philippe de VILLIERS-Philippe

M. Claude WARNET-Claude

M. Philippe ZELLER-Philippe


French readers have been writing to us about École nationale d'administration (always in relation to Battistelli). They have done so for well over a year now. Very well-educated individuals are wary and concerned about the role that École nationale d'administration plays in French and international politics. Sources for the above names include, e.g. [1, 2]. In case any of our French-speaking readers can add some context about the relation (if any) of the above individuals to the European Parliament, EPO and/or Battistelli, we would very much appreciate it, in preparation for this series' finale.

"I wanted to send you some background snippets about Battistelli," one reader told us, "in particular public blog entries circa 2010 deploring the horse trading that surrounded his election, as well as his immediate predecessors'.

"Still need to get this in shape," the reader added, "it's not a lot, but it would complete the picture. There was also Alison Brimelow's in-house announcement that she wouldn't seek reelection in 2010. The text mentioned "two alpha males" in the AC/Board28 which made her life difficult. There should be very little doubt about the identity of one of them..."

Consider how Battistelli treats delegates who aren't 100% in agreement with him.

"The other target of Mrs. Brimelow's comment could be either Roland Grossenbacher [Switzerland], or Jesper Kongstad [Denmark], but I'm not 100% sure."

We would like to add, referring back to the second part of this series, that there are indirect connections between a former President (Alain Pompidou) and Battistelli. The main connection is in French high society and implicates Christine Lagarde.

A reader remarked on our previous article by saying: "Regarding your characterisation of the École nationale d'administration as something of a "school for spoiled rich brats", a sort of Gallic "Bullingdon club": I think this appraisal is quite a bit off the mark, and requires qualification.

"The ÉNA's purpose is to be an elite school for producing elite public administrators. As the title of a French TV film suggests, it is an "école du pouvoir" - a place where you learn to wield power.

"It was a fictionalised story on the ascent of a few twentysomethings of Battistelli's generation in the late 1970s, whose profiles resembled those of the likes of François Hollande, Ségolène Royal or Dominique de Villepin.

"Incidentally, the British script-writer Kosminsky once made a film on Tony Blair's rise to power, and Haitian director Peck films about the infamous Tontons Macoutes or the murder of Patrice Lumumba.

"It is somewhat comparable to a business school like Harvard or Wharton, or certain Oxbridge schools as a ticket to a career in Whitehall.

"To get in the ÉNA, you must get through a grueling set of examinations, and once you're in you're quite literally in a rat race for the best exit ranking, decided on hidden and arbitrary criteria, but which could let you choose the plummest jobs available in the civil service.

"This kind of place does attract people who viscerally like power and/or money. Did I write "striver"? Sorry... It is also accused of breeding conformism.

"Is this Battistelli's vision for the EPO?

"Several books, have been written on this institution, and their tone is usually very critical. I particularly like the title of a recent one by an ÉNA graduate: "Promotion Ubu Roi", which incidentally echoes one of Battistelli's many in-house nicknames "Ubustelli".

"Having money to begin with doesn't help per se, but to an offspring of teachers or ÉNA alumni does. This is essentially an example of what sociologist Pierre Bourdieu called "reproduction sociale".

"The formal teaching curriculum of the two-year program is widely judged to be utterly worthless. What you really learn in the various paid internships are people, networking, behavioural codes and the human pecking order. And possibly a certain ruthlessness...

"To get in you can sit one of two entrance examinations, one for people who are already in the civil service, and another one who are external candidates that come either straight out of university or have professional experience. There are apparently special rules which dispense the candidate of some requirements if he is already a graduate of some other French elite school.

"Battistelli first attended "Sciences Po", which translates to "Institute for Political Studies". It is regarded as the standard path to get into ÉNA.

"I see it as a kind of university-level prep school. Even though the education there is generally good in its own right, a science/technical school it is definitively not."

Putting ÉNA aside for the moment, it's worth getting deeper into the days of Battistelli's appointment.

"Alison Brimelow's in-house blog announcement," told us one source, can possibly be retrieved "from early May 2009." If someone can send it to us the original, that would be valuable. In it, we're told, "there was no greeting or introduction, that's the way it went" (below).

Well, I broke the news to a rather surprised Board 28 on Wednesday before the start of the formal agenda...the chair asked 'why are you telling us today?' which in turn surprised me, and I said 'Because there is a Board 28 meeting...' The concept of parallel universes came to mind, not for the first time in my experience of the EPO.

First, thank you for the many kind and understanding reactions to the news. But I also hear that the brevity of my announcement has upset/puzzled some of you. Well, first I like brevity. Second, whatever I might have added, the speculation and embroidering would have carried on, so I thought I might as well leave room for it. Any major decision like this rests on a collection of 'pro x' and 'anti x' issues and turning that into a simple 'because ' is in my view pointless, and misleading.

The Board 28 was pretty difficult, because we have two Alpha males in the room and they don't always listen. There is also a feeling that for now at least short term taken precedence over the strategic. But other members are more helpful and supportive. The fact is that Member States have strongly divergent views on funding, but some deny that this is the case. That offers the office some room for manoeuvre.

In the evening I went to the ballet, because I foresaw that I might benefit from some diversion at the end of such a day. It was 'Le Corsaire', and absolutely wonderful. The Staatsballett is fortunate in having some very strong dancers, especially the men, and the ballet showed all their talent and energy. Having a lively sense of humour however, I couldn't avoid being reminded of Pirates of the Caribbean. Somebody told me today, 'the good thing about ballet is that you can't hear the words'...perhaps a lesson here for life in the European Patent Organisation? Concentrate on what happens, not what is said.

Talking of hearing words, Thursday ended with the well attended Europatag at the Isar Building, and my speech was about working together in difficult times. Indeed.

Enjoy the weekend.


"Alpha males," as Brimelow called them, will be the subject of our next post (outside this series).

Recent Techrights' Posts

A radical proposal to keep your personal data safe, by Richard Stallman
"The surveillance imposed on us today is worse than in the Soviet Union. We need laws to stop this data being collected in the first place"
An Update About Soylent News, With Jan Rinok "Back in the Saddle"
Burnout or "near burnout" a possibility when having to curate abuse
Rejecting 'Snoop-Phones' and Turning "Old" Phones (or Tablets) Into Freedom-Respecting Appliances
Paul Fernhout (pdfernhout.net) wrote back to Akira Urushibatathis this past weekend
 
Links 21/10/2025: AWS-Induced Chaos and Social Control Media Curbs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Programming, StarGrid, Brand-New Palm OS Strategy Game in 2025, and Chatbot as Addiction Mechanisms
Links for the day
The African Lion and the American Cowards
Safaris exist for people to watch and enjoy animals
Amazon Web Shenanigans Perfectly Timed for Today's Talk by Richard Stallman
Maybe listen to him instead of looking for excuses to ridicule the messenger
Mission:Libre Has Taken Off (Project by Carmen Maris)
there will be a lot more to report on next month (after the event)
Techrights to Publish More EPO Leaks Next Week
We're meanwhile also doing lots of work on search, whose interface now looks better
Links 21/10/2025: 'The Lost Art' of Neon Signs and Twitter (X) to Enable Identity Theft (or Handle Theft) as a Service
Links for the day
Plagiarism With LLM Slop: Hindustan Times (HT Digital Streams Limited) Has Become a Slop Factory/Hub
What a disgrace
Next Week We Launch Search at Techrights
We're planning to launch it some time next week. Maybe Tuesday, maybe Thursday.
Talk by Richard Stallman Will be Live-streamed in Less Than 10 Hours
Happy hacking
"No Kings" in the Software World (GAFAM Should Not Exist, Either)
"No Kings" is a good slogan. Let's start by ridding ourselves of masters, not only those who reside in DC or visit DC
Every Morning
Bugs/edge cases combined with automation can spell disaster
Insane, Deliberately Dishonest, or Just Another Bigot?
very intellectually-dishonest human being
A Lot of Techrights is Built on Perl
Perl also runs the sister site
The Register MS Selling Slop for Microsoft (Vapourware, Ponzi Scheme, False Claims)
What will be left of The Register MS if it keeps repeating falsehoods and looking to profit from Ponzi schemes?
analytics.usa.gov Says Less Than 14% of Web Requests (to Government Sites) Come From Vista 11
Vista 11 was released more than 4 years ago!
People Who Attempt to Take Down Correct Information Need a Doctor a Day
“Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.” ― George Orwell
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 20, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 20, 2025
Vista 11 is Sinking While Microsoft is PIPing (Mass Layoffs But Silent Layoffs)
We're witnessing a shift in platform dominance
Richard Stallman is Having a Good Week Already (Stallman Was Right About 'Clown Computing')
That alone is worth bringing up in his talk
When Prominent GNU/Linux Distros Are Run by Spies
What has Microsoft Canonical become?
More Publishers and Companies Nowadays Say "GNU/Linux", Not "Linux"
It's not to see InstallAware saying GNU/Linux this week
Google News is Now Promoting a Parasitic Slopfarm Called "findarticles.com", Where Plagiarism of "Linux" Articles is Rampant
Does Google even care about the slop epidemic? Google itself is a vendor of slop now (and it calls it "Gemini")
Gemini Links 20/10/2025: Pumpkin Carving, "Hey Hi", and Other Buzzwords
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Google News Promoting Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
What is the value of Google News if so many results in it are fake 'articles?
Our Uptime This Year Was Better Than AWS (Also a Lot Cheaper)
We never used "the cloud"
Amazon Web Shenanigans
An ongoing, experimental endeavour
Death of Elias Diem: FSFE mailing list archives hidden
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/10/2025: Louvre Museum Reveals Weakness, About 7 Million Protest US Turning Into Oligarchy/Monarchy
Links for the day
They Should Have Listened to Techrights Over a Month Earlier (Xubuntu Site Compromised)
we reported this issue about 40 days earlier and nobody did anything about it
Richard Stallman to Give Another Talk Today in Bavaria (Bavarian Academy of Science)
Tomorrow at 6 PM he speaks in Munich
Apple is the Company of Dictators and Worse
Apple is just another greedy corporation in search of sweatshops and even pedophiles (especially the high-profile ones)
Counting Unhatched Eggs Is Not Counting Chickens
Everything here will persist as normal
Barry Kauler Explains That Puppy Linux and EasyOS Exclude Systemd to Keep Things Simple
Barry Kauler's Puppy Linux is in the community's hands. He now focuses on EasyOS and more.
The "Infinite Bread"
The biblical story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 has software parallels
Half a Year After Brian Fagioli Got Kicked Out of BetaNews for Slop He's Still Doing LLM Slop and Slop Images Targeting 'Linux' (Plagiarising Original Works)
If the Web gets polluted or flooded by slopfarms such as these, and Slashdot then sends traffic so these slopfarms (Slashdot probably doesn't do this intentionally), then real writers with real knowledge of GNU/Linux will lose the spark for publishing
In Many Cases and in Many Different Ways, Technology Became Less Durable and Less Reliable Over Time
The "modern" things are more complex. And complexity is a foe or reliability and repair-ability.
Microsoft's LinkedIn is Losing Money, Traffic, and Hope; Now It Wants to Sell Its Users' Lifeblood (and Data)
Let this be a reminder of what social control media really is about
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 19, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 19, 2025
Campaign of FUD Against Framework Laptops and GNU/Linux (Using Microsoft's Attack on Linux, 'Secure Boot')
Ritual Defamation Cult has turned its attention over to Framework
Microsoft Lunduke: Freedom of Speech Means Spreading What I Have to Say and Banning People I Disagree With
4Chan is one he aims for and he is siccing 4Chan trolls at people he doesn't like
Liberation From 'The Feed'
They rank things based on the editor's choice/ideology (he or she knows the sponsors, hence the masters)
Microsoft's Killing of Vista 10 Seems to Have Resulted in More Articles About GNU/Linux (But Also FUD)
We not only saw a rise in traffic, we also saw a remarkable rise in the number of articles
Today (a Day Before Richard Stallman Talk at TUM) There's a Patent Propaganda Event at TUM
Perhaps an opportunity for Dr. Stallman to rebut this "invention to patent" nonsense/fantasy (conflating monopolies with innovation)
OpenSource or "Open Source" as a Brand is Dying, Let's Get Back to Talking About Software Freedom
Those of us who actually want to reform the industry and put users in control of their systems/devices will recognise that "Open Source" was selling a lie or got-co-opted by liars
19 Years in Numbers: Techrights' Anniversary Countdown and Retrospective
In 2019 we began improving our workflows and, accordingly/predictably, we became a lot more productive
Slop Turns People Off (LLMs Lack Intelligence, They're Just Plagiarism Powerhouses That Fail to Deliver Any Real, Measurable Value)
"More" (or "MOAR") isn't always better
IBM Red Hat Has Re-calibrated or Adjusted to Bubble Economics, False Promises, and Slop/Plagiarism
This won't end well
Fake Numbers, Fake Claims, Fake Economy, and Media Grifters That Prop Up Fraud
Grifters like The Register MS won't be looked upon kindly after the bubble implodes
For Some, the GNU Web Site is Not Accessible This Week
They seem to have gone into some kind of lock-down mode
Richard Stallman Back at the "Rudolf-Diesel" Hörsal "MW 2001" in About 40 Hours
He spoke there before; there's a very high seating capacity there
Symptoms of Upcoming Microsoft Layoffs in XBox
A crashing franchise
Psychiatrist confession: Germanwings crash & Debian toxic culture recognized before suicides
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/10/2025: Scentjacking 101, Slop Hype Boosters, and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Slopwatch: The Serial Slopper, LinuxSecurity, and Google News
Let's hope slopfarms die as soon as possible
Links 19/10/2025: Cambodia Scam Centres, Slop Hurting Wikipedia Traffic
Links for the day
As Economies Crumble Free as in Beer Will Matter, Not Just Free as in Freedom/Libre (Libertad)
French regions choosing to embrace Software Freedom
25 Years Ago, an Explanation of How Reducing Free Software to 'Apps' Would Interfere With Freedom Goals
there's nothing unreasonable about it
A List of 63 Known Gemini Clients (Software to Browse Geminispace Content With Gemini Protocol)
Not counting browser plugins for Web browsers
Gemini Links 19/10/2025: "Firma Odin Is Transforming" and Bot Attacks While "AFK"
Links for the day
US Government: 6.1% of Site Visitors Use GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has a considerable share and it is growing
LLM Slop Could Not Rise to Prominence Without Media Complicity and Artificial Hype
Inane garbage disguised as "journalism"
Why the FSF No Longer Recommends Debian, as Explained by Richard Stallman This Month
some weeks ago
All the Latest Half Dozen Articles by Mehedi Hasan (UbuntuPIT) Only Admit at the End That He's Using LLM Slop
Disclosure is OK, but the practice of using slop is not
The 'Modern' Web of Fake Security and Easy Censorship of Whole Domains
Each year it gets worse
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 18, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 18, 2025