Bonum Certa Men Certa

Europatis: “Turnover of €211,800 and Zero Employees”

The Michel family stakes

Jacques Michel document



Summary: The business of Jacques Michel (EPO Vice-President of Directorate General 1 from 1987 to 2003) put under closer scrutiny

Regarding our recent article about Europatis and the EPO, some readers had positive things to say, whereas some thought we had missed an even bigger story.



"You're making a big deal of "Europatis"," one person told us, "but that is in my opinion really something of a non-story. Jacques Michel's career prior to his official retirement is without doubt considerably more interesting. Let us first have a quick look at Europatis.

“Geneviève Michel née Aligon was listed in the EPO directory... And that's not counting his other occupations.”
      --Anonymous
"Jacques Michel: He swims with the biggest of the sharks, and is rumored to have at least four rows of very sharp teeth that can tear your arm off in the bat of an eye. But despite the bone rattling noise from his closet, Jacques Michel is nevertheless a rather congenial fellow, and can genuinely claim to have built something in his lifetime -- unlike the Battistelli clique to which he doesn't belong, AFAIK.

"Word was that the company was founded in 2009 as a sort of plaything to keep his son busy. Its founding statutes show that Jacques Michel and his wife Geneviève Aligon respectively hold 50% and 2.5% of the shares. Laurent Michel, the son, got the balance, 47.5%.

"With his EPO pension, Jacques Michel shouldn't be in any sort of financial need, especially if his wife should also be entitled to one. Geneviève Michel née Aligon was listed in the EPO directory... And that's not counting his other occupations.

"Europatis is actually very small peanuts compared to other initiatives that Michel was involved in and derived a lot more money from prior to his EPO career.""Europatis officially reported a turnover €211,800 and zero employees for 2014."

Europatis is actually very small peanuts compared to other initiatives that Michel was involved in and derived a lot more money from prior to his EPO career. This, however, will be the subject of future articles. Guillaume Minnoye now occupies the position previously occupied by Michel.

Isn't it funny that EPO management brags about the need for "independence" of boards, requires somewhat unreasonable cooling-off periods and gags departing staff when it's so abundantly clear that there may be 'revolving doors' at the very top (way above the boards)?

Recent Techrights' Posts

LLM Slopfarms: LinuxSecurity.com and FUDZilla Doing 'Linux' (Fake Articles)
It's 2025. Everything on the Web is getting worse, except SPARTAN.
Red Hat's Bluewashing to be Further Completed This Year
Do not wait for some announcement from redhat.com - it's already covered by IBM
LLM Slop is Now Filling the Web With Pure Fiction/Fabrication/Misinformation About Linux
The timing of this lie/fiction is curious because Torvalds is being brigaded for defending C
FUDZilla Has Turned Into LLM Slop and Machine-Generated FUD (New York Times Has Also Just Admitted Moving in That Direction)
Failing news sites, instead of calling it quits with some remaining dignity, are handing control over to LLM slop (pretending to still be active)
By Buying Twitter, MElon and Cheeto Now Control EU Politicians, Even at the Highest Levels
"the top level politicians make the egregious mistake of trying to treat Xitter as if it were a communications medium"
How to 'Sell' Software Freedom to People
In my experience, it helps when one speaks about control, not freedom, including confidentiality
 
A Gift That Keeps on Giving: Microsofters Reveal a Campaign of SLAPP, Seeking to Censor Critical Information About Lawsuits Against Microsoft
All they can get here or mockery and ridicule
Two Years After Issuing Ridiculous Threats and Choosing a Law Firm in Debt (Probably Desperate for Clients) Matthew J. Garrett Gets Help ('Bailout') From Microsofters
The karma won't be good
How Americans View 'Free Speech' in Practice
"No good deed goes unpunished"
Threats Against Techrights Always Come From Outside Britain
Over the coming days we shall write about an example of our own and we'll show how Americans have the audacity to bully people using a foreign (to them) court
Links 18/02/2025: More DeepSeek Bans and Supreme Court Patent Challenges
Links for the day
Links 18/02/2025: FAA Layoffs and EU Betrayed
Links for the day
On Technical Contracts of Employment and Why People Must Read Before Signing
The wave of layoffs under MElon will worsen prospects of finding alternate/better employment
Gemini Links 18/02/2025: Reading Books and Oneiric Monk
Links for the day
Swiss corruption, Greens, Liip & Debian human rights violations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Swiss police TIGRIS unit, World Cat Day, Swiss-corruption.com & Debian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/02/2025: “Hey Hi Video Surveillance” and YouTube at 20
Links for the day
The Washington Post (Jeff Bezos) Dies in Darkness
spread it on
Gemini Links 18/02/2025: Downloading Gemini Files with Emacs and Elpher, Gopher on Devuan
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Confirms His Next Talk, "Free/Libre Software and Freedom in the Digital Society" (Next Monday in Free University of Bozen-Bolzano)
He could already advertise this more than a week ago
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 17, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, February 17, 2025
IBM's Chronic Neglect Won't Save Anything and It Might Even Get IBM Sued
The problem is likely a lack of manpower, not deliberate shoddiness
Gemini Links 17/02/2025: Ideal OS, AuraRepo Alpha, and Simple Code
Links for the day
The "Cool Kids" Are Already Using GNU/Linux, Microsoft is Just Cheating
The future and the present are Linux
Links 17/02/2025: War on Dissent and Bloggers, Nationalism a Growing Theme
Links for the day
IBM Going International (and India)
It's Monday and a national holiday
GeekWire: Microsoft Bribes Us While We Cover Microsoft Affairs (Spin Doctoring), Hence We Are "Independent"
What good is a "journalist" sponsored by the very same company he or she writes about?
The Attacks on LinuxQuestions.org
Going to Clownflare only worsens the problem
The GNU Manifesto Turns 40 Next Month
The guardian of Free software (definition, licences, philosophy, hosting and so on) has managed to endure and persevere for 40 years. Very few others can say the same.
Microsoft Lunduke Belongs in 4Chan
Assuming Microsoft Lunduke is aware of the full context, he is now trolling not one but two decent organisations
In Europe and in India Richard Stallman Need Not Duck Anymore, People Trying to Cancel His Talk Have No Sway
the last time a talk by Dr. Stallman got canceled was about a year ago
Back From a Short Break
We can now resume and try to stick to the usual pace
Links 17/02/2025: LLMs Failing and Patreon Support Becoming a Burden to Bloggers
Links for the day
Links 17/02/2025: Blogroll Conundrum; Research, Scientists Under Siege
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 16, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, February 16, 2025
Links 16/02/2025: Nostalgia for Physical Media and the US Government Actively Promotes Pro-Kremlin Politicians in the EU
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/02/2025:Life, Cynicism, and languages
Links for the day
Links 16/02/2025: Oligarchs "Collect Your Data and Control Your World", Global Temperatures Shoot Up
Links for the day
Promoting Microsoft Windows With LLM Slop
What is the policy at BetaNews regarding LLM slop?
Alex Oliva, the Potential 'Successor' of RMS, Has a New Web Site
More freedom for Alex Oliva
Links 16/02/2025: "Microsoft Is Laying Off Employees" and Internal Dissent Brewing at Facebook Over Regime Complicity
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 15, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, February 15, 2025