Maladministration at the EPO as a Crisis for the EU and for Portugal's Image in Europe

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 28, 2026

Some time soon we'll publish a long article about what EPO leadership means to Portugal. It associates Portugal with corruption, chronic cocaine use, perverse behaviour (including in the bedroom), and so many other bad things.

Portugal's endless ambition to place its 'domino pieces' in international institutions is not a gift to Portugal. If it's done by cheating and rigging processes, then the prevailing perception (at least outside Portugal) will become that of Portugal as a "rude savage of Europe".

Remember what Battistelli did to France, according to the French:

President of the European Patent Office (EPO) Benoit Battistelli is a disgrace to his country, the French National Assembly heard Wednesday.

"La présence du Français Benoît Battistelli à la tête de l’Office nuit aujourd’hui gravement à l’image de notre pays," stated MP Philip Cordery in an address to the secretary of state for industry, Christophe Sirugue.

The extraordinary personal attack comes as a number of politicians, media organizations and staff unions across Europe have joined a growing chorus of criticism against the civil servant for continued attacks on his own workers.

For over a year, Battistelli has held several key members of the EPO staff union in disciplinary hearings and on restricted pay, claiming that they had been intimidating other employees. Last month, he took the momentous decision to fire the union's former secretary, Laurent Prunier, despite an explicit resolution of the EPO's governing Administrative Council telling him not to do so.

Those outside EPO senior management claim Battistelli's accusations are baseless, that the disciplinary procedures are a sham and the staff are being targeted for resisting Battistelli's reform efforts, many of which give him greater personal power over the international organization.

(Back when The Register MS covered corruption instead of bagging money to promote a pyramid scheme of slop)

Text: Euro Patent Office prez 'a disgrace to France'

Audio: Top Officials in French Government Are Growing Tired of Battistelli's Abuses at the European Patent Office (EPO)

Now, at the EPO, the president who was born in France carries the flag of Portugal. █