01.18.16
Battistelli’s Legitimacy Under Political Fire After He Fired Staff Representatives, Claims He’s Neither Suitable Nor Eligible to be EPO President
Philip Cordery (below) joins the battle after Friday's complaint from Pierre-Yves Le Borgn’…
Summary: Benoît Battistelli comes under very intense pressure from French representatives of French residents overseas; questions arise, citing ILOAT Judgment 1061, regarding the very existence of Battistelli inside the EPO (let alone eligibility to hold his position)
THE PILE of EPO ‘dirty laundry’ is growing again, as readers who are upset at the EPO send us even more (extending an already long backlog). One thing we wish to get out of the way — so to speak — before proceeding to new Topić revelations, is the attack on staff representatives. Things are far from over and we still strongly encourage every European reader to contact national delegates.
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty,” Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying this morning. Cordery, a French politician who previously complained about the Battistelli regime (we wrote about Cordery on more than one occasion), is lashing out again (he’s in the fourth constituency for French residents overseas):
Philip Cordery French MP representing French expats living in the Benelux wrote on Facebook
16 January at 01:31 · Brussels, Belgium ·Journée noire à l’Office européen des brevets (OEB / European Patent Office)
La gestion antisociale de l’OEB, conduite par son président M. Batistelli, a atteint aujourd’hui des nouveaux sommets. Des sanctions sans précédent ont été prononcées à l’encontre de trois représentants du personnel : la présidente de Suepo Munich licenciée avec en prime une réduction de 20% de ses droits à la retraite ; l’ancien président de cette même organisation, licencié ; son trésorier rétrogradé de 8 échelons, ce qui équivaut à perdre 15 ans de travail. Motif ? Avoir daigné publiquement représenter leurs collègues pour tenter de défendre leurs droits.
Ces décisions autoritaires et arbitraires sont purement scandaleuses. Les droits les plus élémentaires des salariés, en vigueur dans tous les pays d’Europe, sont bafoués au sein de l’OEB sans qu’aucune juridiction nationale ou internationale ne puisse agir. Immunité n’est pas synonyme d’impunité.
Depuis de trop nombreuses années, la situation sociale de cette organisation se dégrade. Trop c’est trop. L’ensemble des États membres doit agir et vite, à l’instar de la France qui a à plusieurs reprises demandé un audit social. J’ai de nouveau saisi le gouvernement en ce sens. Il faut d’urgence mettre un terme à l’arbitraire et refaire vivre cette organisation si importante pour l’Europe toute entière.
Je veux assurer tout le personnel, et notamment ses représentants, de mon soutien plein et entier. Nous restons vigilants et agirons avec tous nos moyens jusqu’à ce que la démocratie et la justice retrouvent leurs droits au sein de l’Office.
An English translation of the above would be appreciated. We are still waiting for anyone who can supply a translation of the Heise article and a copy of the internal communication from Battistelli about Friday’s firings.
How much more can Battistelli withstand? He reportedly threatened to resign already. Battistelli’s “political connections in France,” says this new comment, is a “breach of the standards required of an international civil servant”.
We wrote about Battistelli's political connections last night and here is the comment which reflects further:
A number of commentators here have referred to BB’s political connections in France and the fact that he holds elected office as a municipal councillor in France (St. Germain-en-Laye) on a party ticket for the UMP (in the meantime rebranded as “Les Republicains”).
However, nobody seems to have noticed that such involvement in national party politics is in breach of the standards required of an international civil servant according to ILOAT Judgment 1061:
“… an international civil servant, though entitled to hold his own political views, must stand aloof from demonstrations of adherence to a political party. Integrity, loyalty to the international civil service, independence and impartiality are the standards required of an international civil servant and they require him to keep clear of involvement in national party politics.”
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/triblex/triblexmain.detail?p_judgment_no=1061
Apparently these standards don’t apply to BB …
Yes, Battistelli seems to have different rules applying to him (if any exist and are actually honoured). Here come the FIFA comparisons again. ‘Maxdrei’ (pseudonym of what looks like a patent professional based on previous comments) is quoted as saying: “It was because Mr Blatter managed the flow of dividends to individual members in such a way that most of them thought Blatter a hero. I wager that most EPC Member States see BB as a hero, for much the same reason.”
The reply to that went as follows: “Money makes the world go round and, yet, Mr. Battistelli’s approach is more comprehensive than that. For example, when a member of a country’s Administrative Council delegation has dared to say something that wasn’t in the script, time allotted to that country’s delegation in meetings of the various committees can get drastically cut. Most EPC member states probably don’t see BB as a hero. Unfortunately, they simply don’t think they have an alternative to agreeing to what he wants from them.”
Earlier on another person (maybe someone who is British by the looks of it) wrote: “Mr Alty and Mr Denehey [the British delegates], the time has come to decide whether you are a Churchill or a surrender monkey from Vichy France. Grow a pair and make a stand.”
Mr Alty and Mr Denehey are not even responding. They’re stonewalling. Remember how the British government intervened last year when EPO staff planned a protest against these people.
As one person put it: “The host countries have a special responsibility as they get the benefits of hosting. Do you know how good is for the Munich economy to host the EPO? The minimum you an expect from the host country is vigilance. The Germans are keeping their eyes shut. They do not reserve respect any longer.”
Alluding to Sarkozy-ism and Battistelli, one person wrote: The first request from the french embassy was never answered by the EPO higher level. The second request received a stinging refusal “à la Battistelli”. Rumours has it that Hollande appreciated the act to its fair value.”
Regarding an earlier suggestion of a boycott (of German products) one person said/responded: “A boycott of German goods would be somewhat discriminatory when all states appear complicit.”
In a sense, all nations are complicit in the silence sense, but only Germany can really send Federal investigators (e.g. over privacy abuses). One person brought up an alternative which relates to the Unitary Patent (UP). The person wrote: “It is a good point, but I suggest another measure that will hit where it hurts: Stop using the EPO patent system. And as a corollary the UP system if any.”
One sure thing is, the UPC (or UP for short) would further empower the EPO and mostly serve German lawyers (this is a widely-known fact). Why reward them after this kind of atrocious regime of Battistelli? It makes no sense. The management of the EPO is clearly broken beyond repair (too much cross-pollination). It needs to be rebooted. Questions about the legitimacy of this whole management (not just Battistelli) ought to be surfaced and circulated a lot more for real actions to be taken. █
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–Henry Mencken
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