Bonum Certa Men Certa

The General Consultative Committee of the EPO Exposes a Disaster and a Lack of Genuine Dialogue

Video download link | md5sum 0fb9bcc5d05ac5516517f1c160154f6e GCC Report as Dialogue Breaks Down Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0



Summary: The General Consultative Committee (GCC) at the EPO deals with unlawful proposals from António Campinos (he's happy to violate laws, constitutions, protocols, conventions, just like Benoît Battistelli did) and once again the abuses by managers is covered up; it's as if the Office is run by unaccountable gangsters who arrogantly curse at everyone whilst insisting they're the nicest people ever

THE video above deals with this short report [PDF] about a recent meeting at the EPO, whose agenda is better illuminated in several [PDF] key [PDF] opinion documents [PDF] from staff representatives. They show to their constituents that the Office misuses politics to justify cracking down on staff or plundering the staff.



"They show to their constituents that the Office misuses politics to justify cracking down on staff or plundering the staff."One of these opinion documents is very long, but the summary speaks of the Unitary Patent, basically a misguided longtime effort to introduce a kangaroo court (UPC) to authorise European software patents etc. under the guise of "unity" or "unification".

Here is the letter sent to staff:

Report on the GCC meeting of 26 April 2022: The re-election package

Dear colleagues,

As already explained in an earlier publication, the GCC meeting of 26 April was the worst ever experienced under Mr Campinos’ leadership. The CSC members of the GCC requested that the consultation on the agenda items be repeated; and that the official recording of the discussions in the meeting be made available so that staff become aware of how the President chaired this statutory meeting.

On 29 April, the President informed the CSC members that “there are no reasons to repeat the GCC meeting” and he did not address the question of the recording. The reasoned opinions on the documents on the agenda are thus given under protest:
  • Opinion on the document on Professional Mobility (GCC/DOC 06/2022)


  • Opinion on the directive on an in-house supervisory committee for SSP investment management and administration (GCC/DOC 07/2022)


  • Opinion on the decision (GCC/DOC 08/2022) of the President on the entry into force of Circular No. 419 (New Ways of Working).


Undoubtedly, the first document (Professional Mobility) is the one that would most profoundly change the way official EPO duties are assigned to employees, be they EPO staff or national civil servants. In best Battistelli tradition, Mr Campinos has prepared a “package” to be submitted to the Budget and Finance Committee in May 2022 and to the Administrative Council for approval in June 2022 (see CA/32/22 and CA/32/22 Add.1), with various measures more or less closely related to mobility. His re-election will be discussed in the same meeting.

You can read the full report, including some salient points in the “mobility package” here.


Notice the arrogance of Campinos, having cursed at the staff and then rejected transparency (in order to cover up what he had done). He "informed the CSC members that “there are no reasons to repeat the GCC meeting” and he did not address the question of the recording." My personal opinion is that, for their own protection, staff should bring recording devices of their own. They might even wish to disclosure that in advance, citing this example where the Office maintains a monopoly on the recordings -- just like many Police Departments (PDs) in the United States -- so that those recordings can only ever be used as a weapon against the vulnerable/unarmed citizens.

Recent Techrights' Posts

When Abusive Law Firms (Working for Microsofters Against Us) Assert That Someone Writing in Social Media About Himself is Confidential Information
There was no reason to throw "GDPR" into 2 SLAPPs; they know it, but the goal was to increase the cost of a Defence and lessen the incentive to challenge the SLAPPs
 
"Linux" Sites That Went Astray
there are even worse things than shutdowns
Links 16/06/2025: Climate, Wildfires, Breaches, and Monopolies
Links for the day
Links 16/06/2025: Summer in Finland and Misunderstandings
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 15, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 15, 2025
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: Rainy Season and OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Links for the day
Links 15/06/2025: Military Games, Parade, and Actions
Links for the day
Links 15/06/2025: Windows TCO, Openwashing, and Wars
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/06/2025: "AI Fatigue and Crappiness"
Links for the day
Microsoft Attack Dogs Against Watchdogs and Guard Dogs in Software
Last year Microsofters hired attack dogs or "guns for hire"
Slop Cannot Replace Domain Expertise
All this "AI" hype (it's not even intelligence, it's all a misnomer, as many of us have insisted all along) will fizzle and be written off as a failed experiment
IBM's Fresh 'PIPs' (Action Before Layoffs)
At times like these, even once-reputable employers resort to PIPs and other procedures/tricks for denial of workers' rights
Microsoft is a Problem Not Just for Denmark
Every country should consider what Denmark is doing, why Denmark is doing it, and then do the same
The Slopfarms' Self Detonation
If more sites like BetaNews go under, then maybe we can still salvage some of the Web
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 14, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 14, 2025
Links 14/06/2025: FDA Changes Priorities, Cassette Data Storage From The 1970s
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/06/2025: Steam Next Fest and Thoughts on Gemini
Links for the day
Site/Datacentre Maintenance Next Week
speed things up
Bulgaria: GNU/Linux Near 10%
The Bulgarian market seems to be changing
I Never Spoke to BetaNews. But BetaNews Wants to Ensure I Never Will, Either.
Sometimes just the reluctance to talk about it can say a great deal
Throwing Money at Lawyers Can't Stop Us (It Never Did)
Even just trying to censor things can result in the opposite of the desired outcome
Online Search or Large Search Engines Aren't Working Anymore
business models that directly compete with interests of Web users
Holidays and Breaks
I've hardly taken any long breaks since I got married
Danish OpenDocument Freedom
"year of Linux"
Links 14/06/2025: Wars and L.A. Distortion Effect
Links for the day
BetaNews Has More or Less Died After Experiments With LLM Slop, Is Linuxsecurity Next?
It doesn't seem like BetaNews knows what it's doing, let alone what it talks about
Gemini Links 14/06/2025: Historic Ada Design and GeminiSpace.Club to Expire
Links for the day
Links 14/06/2025: India Plane Crash and Middle-Eastern War
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 13, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 13, 2025