THE EPO lost the separation of powers. Jesper Kongstad has become nothing but a lap pet -- be it a chinchilla or a dog -- of Battistelli (whom he 'supervises') and hence, those whom Kongstad 'chairs' are the lapdogs of the lapdog. It would be utterly comical if it wasn't so serious and resulted in many suicides (tragedies to entire families, sometimes spouses and children too).
I (and nobody else in the general public) is aware of the role played by the Chairman of the AC, essentially because no journalists know enough about the esoteric patent field to perform investigative journalism.
The comments in IPKat have given us rumours, but they have not been substantiated. The journalists I have spoken to have been more interested in the human angle to the managerial atrocities at the EPO, and they have not been interested in learning that such atrocities are just a means to an end. And when I have argued that we do not even know what the end is, why all of this is happening, their deadline suddenly stops their absorbance of facts.
The problem at the EPO is not the quantity of grants (+40%) or their low quality. The main problem is that the EPO moved from rules of law to lobbying. In your example, you suggest for the SMEs to file observations and to file good oppositions. But what could they do when the competitor has direct contact with the directors and with the higher management? The examiners are instructucted to follow the opinion of their managers. The BoA is under control and has lost its independence. For the SMEs the main problem is not the grant of the patent of a competitor but the refusal of their own inventive patent.
Result of the discussion : BB says to the AC "I have decided not to replace VP1" (who is only in charge of ca. 4500 civil servants"...
The AC (who IS in charge of nominating VPs) : MUTE
Result : BB 1 - AC 0
Game over
Feedback AC nr 2
usually only few delegations speak during the open part of the AC meeting (eg CH, NL, DE and the like)
In confidential session though, all liliputian delegations (eg Albania, Croatia etc) who have the IP activities you know, who normally speak very bad English, then read speaches written in Oxbridge EN (apparently prepared by...the EPO !)