bfda37307becbb658ed4d8c1505e139e
Lack of Dialogue and Accountability
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0
THE staff of the EPO (not the kakistocrats in management but staff which does all the actual work!) is too smart to fool and push around. Cursing at the staff isn't just counterproductive; it is a serious violation of the rules of the Office.
"The victims are being framed as "troublemakers" and those who constantly break the law are painted in media (which they bribe) as peacemakers."This is exactly what's happening at the EPO right now. The victims are being framed as "troublemakers" and those who constantly break the law are painted in media (which they bribe) as peacemakers.
The Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) has sent an open letter to the chief kakistocrat, stating: "Staff demands publication of the GCC recording of 26 April 2022" (not a new request, but the kakistocrat keeps ignoring the request; it's June already!).
The LSCMN wrote to colleagues: "To further the earlier request of the CSC, the LSCMN had put the following question to staff: "Do you request Mr Campinos to publish the recording of the GCC meeting of 26 April 2022?" 306 participants answered yes (96%), 9 answered no and 4 abstained."
It's clear that people do want to hear and judge it for themselves. It's also clear that the kakistocrat, António Campinos, is eager to hide what happened there. As if time alone will 'fix' things and amend the past...
The LSCMN continued: "We conclude that the request of the CSC has found the overwhelming support of staff in Munich and urge the President to accede to it in this open letter."
The Central Staff Committee (CSC) also wrote to colleagues, in a message entitled "Meeting on 1 June: Professional conduct and meaningful dialogue" and sent some day ago: "The President has invited the CSC to inform him of any topics we would like to add on the agenda of the meeting with him scheduled for 1 June 2022. We think it is against the interest of staff if we simply return to a "business-as-usual" agenda after the GCC meeting of 26 April 2022. Rather, we see two problems that need to be urgently addressed in order to prepare a new beginning on a common basis: professional conduct and meaningful dialogue."
"Whether is is just a mental or instability issue (inability to control one's language), or even connected to alcohol/narcotics... that's not for us to judge. But there are rumours and whisper campaigns inside the Office about Campinos and drugs.""Professional conduct" refers to the rudeness of António Campinos. There have been no consequences whatsoever for breaking the rules of the Office and he's seeking to extend his term. Insane!
To remind readers what he said: "You will never have such a nice person being the f***ing President for the next fifty f***ing years. So you wake up and make agreements with me, or you never will for your f***ing life."
Sounds like an ego problem. He thinks he's always right. He cannot come to grips with disagreement. This is another Battistelli. We don't want to recklessly assert or claim a profound mental issue, e.g. God complex of sorts, as we never met him in person and diagnostic, arm chair psychiatry would not be our professional field, either. But do you want a megalomaniac to run Europe's second-largest organisation? Is this going to be beneficial to peace and dialogue?
Whether is is just a mental or instability issue (inability to control one's language), or even connected to alcohol/narcotics... that's not for us to judge. But there are rumours and whisper campaigns inside the Office about Campinos and drugs. "Either way," an associate has noted, "it's not a desirable trait in one in his ostensible role."
Does the Administrative Council get that? Does the Council serve any function at all? After four years of failure and growing unrest, was anything learned?
Here is what staff representatives wrote:
Europäisches Patentamt 80298 München Deutschland
Local Staff Committee Munich Comité local du personnel de Munich Lokaler Personalausschuss München
Email: mnstcom@epo.org
Date: 25.05.2022 sc22009ml
Europäisches Patentamt | ÃâPV München | GERMANY
President of the Office Mr António Campinos
Per E-Mail: PRESIDENT@epo.org
SUBJECT: Request of Staff in Munich to publish the recording of the GCC Meeting of 26 April 2022
Dear Mr President,
On 18 May 2022, the Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) held an online General Assembly attended by 667 staff members.
During the assembly, we presented the ”Mobility” Package (CA/32/22) to staff and detailed the events which took place during the GCC meeting of 26 April 2022 as reported by the Central Staff Committee (CSC). Reference was made to the ServRegs, in particular Article 38(5), which stipulates that
the meetings of the GCC shall be recorded. In that earlier publication by the CSC, it was requested that this recording be published.
The LSCMN had put the following question to staff:
“Do you request Mr Campinos to publish the recording of the GCC meeting of 26 April 2022?”
306 participants answered yes (96%), 9 answered no and 4 abstained.
From this, we conclude that the request of the CSC has found the overwhelming support of staff in Munich. It is our duty to convey this support to you, and ask that you proceed with the publication of the recording of this last GCC meeting.
Sincerely yours,
Michael Alex Kemény
Chair of the Local Staff Committee Munich City, Haar and Brussels
European Patent Office 80298 Munich Germany
Central Staff Committee Comité central du personnel Zentraler Personalausschuss
centralSTCOM@epo.org
Reference: sc22058cl
Date: 19/05/2022
European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY Mr António Campinos President of the EPO
By email
OPEN LETTER
Agenda of the upcoming President / CSC meeting on 1 June 2022
Dear Mr President,
In your email of 4 May 2022, you invited the CSC to inform you of any topics we would like to add on the agenda of the meeting with you scheduled for 1 June 2022.
After the GCC meeting of 26 April 2022, your office informed us that the “consultation did take place in good faith” (email of 28 April 2022), that “the members of the GCC nominated by the administration do not share [our] recollection of this specific meeting” but that indeed “GCC meetings may be some times tense” (email of 29 April 2022). Later, your official report in the Intranet downplayed the incidents as “issues creating tensions at times”.
Rarely has a recollection been so far removed from reality, and the draft minutes of the meeting that you sent us on 19 May evening even seem to ignore the matter completely.
We see two problems that need to be urgently addressed in order to prepare a new beginning on a common basis:
Firstly, professional conduct would require you as Chair to refrain from ad hominem attacks against individuals for what they say or how they say it. It is up to the Chair to be flexible with the time constraints of a GCC meeting, and it may also be part of his duties to admonish inappropriate contributions. However, at no point in time did our behaviour go beyond normal conduct, which would even have justified such a response. For example, we cannot accept that you divide staff representatives into some who would engage into “lengthy monologues” and “other CSC members”, who would have “interacted openly”.
Secondly, meaningful dialogue is also at stake. You suggest that the GCC should be the place for “direct discussions” on all agenda items “with the time required by their complexity”. Just taking the Professional mobility agenda item as an illustration, how can one reasonably expect a meaningful discussion to take place in such a short time on such a long and legally complex document (CA/32/22)?
We expect a direct interaction in Working Groups, where our point of view would be genuinely taken into account before a version is submitted to the GCC. This happens much too seldom because your appointees often seem to have no leeway or mandate to really interact and have the “remarkably fruitful exchanges” you claim in your email of 29 April 2022.
We think it is against the interest of staff if we simply return to a “business-as-usual” agenda after the GCC meeting of 26 April 2022, unless we address together some issues which have accumulated over the year s and culminated in this last GCC meeting. We have a genuine interest in finding better formats for bringing in the opinion of staff so that it can be taken into account in the decision-making process. In the interest of all stakeholders, and first and foremost of the staff itself, we are open to an educated discussion on such improvements.
In conclusion, we believe that we need to address these issues first before we consider addressing the items on your social agenda.
Yours sincerely,
Alain Dumont Chairman of the Central Staff Committee