Bonum Certa Men Certa

Censored EPO Publication: Battistelli Can Have His Multi-Billion Euro EPO Scam, So Why Can't Campinos Too?

Earlier today: European Commission's Thierry Breton Covers Up EPO Corruption For His Friend Benoît Battistelli

Summary: Mr. Campinos, seeing what Mr. Battistelli has managed to get away with (the Commission approves, having been infiltrated by friends of the ringleaders), piggybacks or follows the steps of his appointer by blasting almost a billion euros on a worthless project with no real purpose and the Central Staff Committee (CSC) warns it has "very high risk of mismanagement and fraud"

AS EXPECED, THE EPO does not want its staff to be informed. It's not helpful (to oneself) when people receive information about one's crimes. This is a lot bigger (in terms of financial scale) than FIFA/UEFA scandals. Techrights will be publishing censored EPO publications this week; we have some securities in place, e.g. in case of censorship attempts. We accomplish this by decentralisation, notably mass dissemination to and from many nodes that can serve the suppressed pages.



Taking a breakToday we start by publishing a document about buildings the EPO planned to build at a massive cost (prior to the pandemic). António Campinos likes to pretend that the Office has a financial crisis while Benoît Battistelli loses hundreds of millions of euros of EPO money by gambling that money away. Why was a criminal put in charge of a law school? You know a "scheme" when you see one and it's not hard to see who will benefit from it...

"You know a "scheme" when you see one and it's not hard to see who will benefit from it...""Burning money to create a burning deck," the Committee of EPO staff (CSC) called the building projects. "Management is currently censoring a CSC paper about Mr Campinos' building investment program," it noted. We've already given examples of Campinos and his colleagues censoring the CSC as early as 2018. "We ask ourselves whether the Building Investment Program (CA/43/19) is in line with sound housekeeping," the CSC said. "Moreover, the focus should be on staff needs for accommodation. We request the Administrative Council to consider putting a caveat on the programme in its present form: we need to first explore scenarios and work on the programme of requirements in a truly inclusive manner, involving the Staff Committees as user representatives. After adoption, the programme should be monitored by an independent body to limit the risks of mismanagement and fraud."

Well, those "risks of mismanagement and fraud" are more than just risks but a reality; mismanagement and fraud had gone on for years prior to this project. Here's the summary of the full publication:

Summary: Burning money to create a burning deck



The Central Staff Committee appreciates the commitment to preserving the EPO’s patrimony in a state that it provides a healthy and motivating working environment and aims at improving sustainability. The proposed programme requires unprecedented expenditure. We ask ourselves whether this is in line with sound housekeeping. The planned investment over more than EUR 1 billion also appears to have future sales of property in mind. It presupposes that future owners would find the EPO’s definition of modern and state-of-the-art attractive and suitable for their respective needs. It may also be the case that inflated, unachievable, values of buildings will be used for future planning decisions. With planning concepts for workspaces changing over time it is impossible to predict what a future owner might require at an undetermined point of sale. We feel that this perspective should not feature at all in any building or refurbishment plans of the EPO. The focus should be on staff needs for accommodation. A possible sale of PschorrHöfe 7 without considering abandoning the lease of Haar does not appear to be thought through.

Initiatives to preserve the value of our patrimony enjoy the support of staff, whilst increasing its value for increasing’s sake does not, and especially not at a time where a flawed financial study paves the way to heavy cuts in salaries, allowances and pensions. The building of an “engaged, knowledgeable and collaborative organisation” does not require many of the initiatives at the base of the current program. The Building Investment Program is burning money to help create the burning deck painted in the Financial Study for preparing for instance an affordability-issue for tax-compensation on pensions. Faced with such prospects it is no wonder that staff are very suspicious of building projects that are not only excessive but also detrimentally affect the day-to-day work and, ultimately, staff health. It is undisputed that some renovation of old buildings and maintenance is necessary. But investments here should be driven by needs, not by aspirations not serving the staff’s – and therefore the Office’s – interests.

We request the Administrative Council to consider putting a caveat on the presented Building Investment Program and to instead encourage the President to first explore scenarios and work on the programme of requirements in a truly inclusive manner, involving the Staff Committees as user representatives. A revised Building Investment Program should then be presented to the AC.

Cost transparency, cost control, the lack of adequate planning, the Office’s capacity and even its ability to manage such projects were an issue for New Main as well as for the Isar-refurbishment (see CA/7/12, C. Report on the project costs). A program-value of in excess of EUR 1bn combined with the intended types of contract entails a very high risk of mismanagement and fraud occurring in the various phases of the program. The Administrative Council should not be put in a position again where it grudgingly has to approve further expenditure. The program should be monitored by an independent body over the whole life-cycle of the program, with uninhibited access to all information sources and reporting directly to the Administrative Council. An Audit Committee analogous to the one defined in CA/D 9/09 comes to mind.


Now, with the buildings on the back-burner (at least not burned), the Office suddenly claims to have a huge deficit though it's merely an excuse for robbing EPO staff and blow billions of euros on other scams like Battistelli's. This is like classic organised crime and it has become so pervasive that friends of the perpetrators now occupy positions of power in the EU/EC. Where's the media? Where are the journalists? Oh, we can see where...

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft's Halloween Documents and systemd, Wayland, Etc.
Maybe one day Wayland will be widespread. Or maybe not.
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
 
Financial Support for the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project
The FSF has extended until Friday its fund-raising campaign
Reboots Should Never be Necessary
"BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY!!"
Illegally Hiding (or Demanding Secrecy Around) Illegal Requests or Attempts at Extortion
unlawful communications like threats
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: BOFH Archive, Updating Old Palm PDAS, and Nginx vs Slop Bots
Links for the day
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025