Don't mess with the École

Reference: Order of succession

Summary: António Campinos is quite likely the next EPO President, as insiders suspect that many applications for the job got rejected politically (turned down by political mischief)

THE German media believes that António Campinos will be the next head of the EPO (the Office, not the Organisation, whose Chairman will leave one week from now). Campinos is believed to be French, for reasons we explained before [1, 2], and he is close to Battistelli. Insiders suspect that Battistelli is already paving the way for Campinos to 'win' the job, as we previously explained in:

1. It's a Family Business: French Succession Plan at EPO After Battistelli's Departure
2. One Week Left for Battistelli's Coronation of Another Frenchman, António Campinos, to Lobby for UPC?
3. Rumours That Another Frenchman is the Only Candidate to Succeed Benoît Battistelli at the EPO

Imagine having 3 French Presidents (out of 4) in succession! Never mind the fact that much of the remaining management, dubbed Team Battistelli, is also French. What a coup! (French word)

"Insiders suspect that Battistelli is already paving the way for Campinos to 'win' the job""According to sources close to the action," one reader told us, "there are only two valid applications for the position of EPO President. One of these comes from Campinos as long suspected. The other is not yet clear but may be announced by the Administrative Council in October.

"It is rumoured that there were actually a lot of applications but most of the aspiring candidates did not secure the necessary approval of their home state.

"Imagine having 3 French Presidents (out of 4) in succession!""What is not clear is whether the withholding of support for these applications was the result of an official high-level decision by the competent ministry or whether the Council delegations were manipulated by Battistelli to withhold support without referring the matter to their ministries.

"If Battistelli had in fact influenced the national delegations and manipulated them into blocking potential candidates then this could be a major political scandal. The Council delegates are ultimately answerable to their national governments via the supervising ministries and not to the EPO President.

"Given the lack of transparency at the EPO, it is unlikely that anybody will ever manage to uncover the real story about what is going in behind the scenes."

"Public scrutiny is sorely needed (at the very least for justice) as lack of transparency at the EPO facilitates much mischief."We were also barely able to verify claims that Jesper Kongstad had gotten pushed out (sacked) by his government. He is leaving next week (also his job at the DKPTO).

"At this stage," our reader continued, "it seems almost certain that Campinos will be anointed as Battistelli's successor in October or at the latest by December."

If anyone out there has any additional information, please get in touch with us. Public scrutiny is sorely needed (at the very least for justice) as lack of transparency at the EPO facilitates much mischief. ILO 'politics' are also of interest to us.

We have another series coming soon. It will be focused on Battistelli with his string-pulling skills. He is, after all, a politician. ⬆