Photo credit (CC): Groupe LINAGORA
THE situation at the EPO is clearly not improving and someone (preferably Dutch-speaking) should tell Bert Koenders, who said he would monitor the situation. Team Battistelli, a small cabal of people loyal to the person who secures their astronomical (even by EU standards) salaries, keeps getting rewarded while many others pay the price (punished or ousted, if not driven to suicide, libeled etc.) -- to the point where the whole EPO seems like a milking cow of Team Battistelli and nobody else. They're 'looting' the whole thing.
"The other day we wrote about a new proposal that would enable Team Battistelli to pocket even more money and an insider, who has access to this information, said to us privately that "the functional allowance for managers is true.""Another thing which we learned about the EPO earlier today is that there are attempts to oust Battistelli, but being the joke that Jesper Kongstad has become (he is still the Chinchilla Man of the Council, Battistelli's lapdog who was supposed to be his supervisor), he is actively trying to prevent it, thus demonstrating complicity.
A new comment from IP Kat now says: "On the agenda for the AC next week is also Battistelli presenting his intention for the replacement of VP1 Minnoye from July 1st. Rumour has it, no replacement but three PDs form a committee. Thus, no VP1, no VP3, VP5 heading to retirement and VP4 being managed by PD HR. A very stripped back top management with the Battistelli appointee CIO stepping up as head of office for The Hague. Would all give a reason for 'stability' or 'continuation' at the head of the office? At least till any new structure beds in??"
We previously (in 2015) wrote about the problems associated with this CIO. Where does all this money go? Where is the accountability? Where is there even a morsel of oversight? These are rhetorical questions of course!
"Where does all this money go? Where is the accountability? Where is there any morsel of oversight?"Another new comment then says that "in a couple of days some farting geese in the fog will decide about the goose that lays golden eggs! BB [Battistelli] is currently lobbying with the AC to extend his contract for another 3 years, so we are in for some news in the coming days:(" (terrible if true, especially considering the fact that Battistelli did not even qualify for the current term because of his age, and the same goes for Minnoye).
If Battistelli is really "lobbying with the AC to extend his contract for another 3 years," then that would mean a never-ending autocracy at the EPO, much like in the world's most authoritarian regimes (countries like North Korea, Syria and Egypt come to mind). ⬆