Bonum Certa Men Certa

It's a Family Business: French Succession Plan at EPO After Battistelli's Departure

MoU signed by Bergot



Summary: Battistelli is promoting Requena, as expected, while making many other management types redundant

RUMOURS from the EPO suggest that the next President is likely French. But then, adding insult to injury, the long-planned restructuring -- in defiance of recommendations from business experts -- is being implemented. Guess who's being put in charge...



"Guess who's being put in charge..."A late Friday announcement (as usual) from the EPO said this: "Dear Colleagues, As part of the consolidation of the general organisational structure of the Office that was decided in June, the President's Office, Directorate External Communications, the Chief Economist Unit and the Chief of Protocol Unit have been grouped under the lead "Principal Directorate Presidential Area". The restructured Presidential Area will foster the internal and external coordination of the preparation and implementation [...] orientations of the Office. In line with the set-up of the new unit as from 1 September 2017, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Gilles Requena, head of President's Office since 2015, as its Principal Director. I wish Mr Requena every success in his function."

That was posted yesterday. Funny that nothing is said about the nepotism and family connection. Published on the EPO intranet on September 1st, this message serves to reaffirm much of what we wrote earlier this year. Not much is surprising about it.

"For those who don't know, Bergot is married to Requena, a former colleague of Battistelli in France."Speaking to someone who is familiar with these matters, we have more context to it: "In its drive to cut costs the EPO management had decided to merge directorates and reduce the numbers of directors, leaving part of their work to be done by team leaders who would merely get a monthly bonus but no pensionable salary. After months of uncertainty in which all the directors were kept out of the loop it has been announced that a total of 80 positions had been filled (61 as directors for large directorates, 5 as directors [...] opposition directorates and 14 as coordinating directors). What happens with the rest of the roughly two dozens directors not on the appointment list is, after several weeks, still unknown and very much representative for the chaotic management of the EPO under Battistelli and Bergot." (B&B)

For those who don't know, Bergot is married to Requena, a former colleague of Battistelli in France.

"However," continued the above, "if B&B were not able to find a solution for the out of favour directors, they managed to contrapt [sic] Mr. Battistelli€´s friend Mr. Requena a principal director€´s position. Hardly a surprise, considering that Mr. Requena had fallen behind his wife, Mme. Bergot, when the latter was appointed a principal director after Mr. Battistelli changed the rules in order to allow her to jump from A3 to A6 (impossible under the previous regulations). Having two spouses on different management levels would have ruined the conjugal harmony, so a big thanks to the thoughtful Mr. Battistelli.

"The "swamp" -- so to speak -- has not been drained. It's still being filled with yet more of Battistelli's cronies, who continue to be promoted.""Jokes aside, the EPO is more and more resembling an African or Central Asian dictatorship, with the ruthless potentate bestowing lucrative court positions on his cronies. What is scary is that the EPO€´s descent may continue under the next president who will find it hard to dismantle the crony structure built by Battistelli."

Yes, as we said before, we don't expect major changes after Mr. Kongstad and Mr. Battistelli leave the Organisation and the Office, respectively. The "swamp" -- so to speak -- has not been drained. It's still being filled with yet more of Battistelli's cronies, who continue to be promoted.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Uses LLM Slop to Defraud (or Rob) Shareholders
Microsoft is basically defrauding its shareholders by LLM slop
The "Davos Effect": Tarnishing the Reputation of Places Not by Overtourism But by Oligarch Infestation
The last Venice needs is an affiliation with Venetian oligarchs
 
What Happens When Your Law Firm is Preoccupied With Harassing and Trying to Extort a Humble Couple in Manchester, Even on Behalf of Violent Microsoft Staff From Another Continent
It's good to see that law firms which operate in bad faith are perishing
Lawyer X, Law Firm X and Elon Musk's X: scandals linked by Old Xaverian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Distraction-Free Writing and Hytale Mismanagement
Links for the day
Links 01/07/2025: "Beauty of Blogging" and "Etiquette of Collapse"
Links for the day
The Web is a Dead End
We need to adopt alternatives
When Words Lose Their Intended Meaning
examples of words that, at least in the technical spheres, don't mean what they sound like
People Who Disagree With You on Technical Matters May or May Not Agree With You on Political Things (But Usually They Do)
What bothers me a great deal is seeing left-leaning people accusing other left-leaning people of being "nazis"
"Too Much Choice" and "Too Many Programming Languages"
What IBM and its apologists aim for was attempted in the 1930s and it failed
Microsoft Lost 400,000,000 Windows Users, According to Microsoft
more people adopt smaller computers and many people replace Windows with GNU/Linux, as they don't really need a new computer
Half a Year Gone, What's to Come Next
In the second half of 2025 we expect to be done with the Microsoft SLAPPs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 30, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 30, 2025
People at the Very Top of Microsoft Know How Bad Things Really Are
There's no product that can replace the former profitability of Windows licensing and stuff that went on top of Windows
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Mid Year and a Tour of Old Languages
Links for the day
EPO Presentation Bemoans Misuse of Slop in Decision-Making on Patents and in Classification (Which is Likely Illegal Too)
We habitually mention failed use cases of LLMs on the Web
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Confirmed, "XBox Hardware Is Dead"
It's possible that over 20% of the staff will be laid off
Links 30/06/2025: Kyrgyzstan vs Media Freedom, Dalai Lama Succession
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: Backend Programs in Gemini and Dynamic Content Without The Scripting
Links for the day
Links 30/06/2025: Zuckerberg’s Tax-Evading Scheme Harms Kids, US Copyright Office Lacks Leadership
Links for the day
Microsoft Isn't Laying Off Tens of Thousands to 'Invest' in Slop ('Hey Hi'), It's Laying Off Tens of Thousands Because It's Running Out of Money (and Willing Lenders)
the layoffs are a sign of the business failing, not "hey hi" (whatever that is) replacing staff
Intel Lays Off 20% of Its Workforce, Microsoft is Doing the Same This Year
Like a yoyo, whatever goes up will come back down
Microsoft XBox Layoffs: Almost 2,000 Layoffs Became "Over 2,000"? (Over 20% of the Staff)
over 20% of staff will be let go, not counting staff that leaves voluntarily
GNU/Linux Rises to New Highs in Angola, Africa in General is Abandoning Windows
Western media barely covers Microsoft layoffs in Africa, but in recent years Microsoft culled the workforce and even shut down entire operations
Summer Plans in Techrights and Elsewhere
massive layoffs at Microsoft
Destination Geminispace (in the Age of LLM Slop and Slop Images That Infest the Web and Social Control Media)
Geminispace isn't vast, but at least it is - on average - a lot "cleaner"
GNU/Linux Growing in Sierra Leone This Year
Based on what statCounter is seeing, this year there are more and more people there who adopt GNU/Linux
Serial Sloppers Gonna Slop
More sites out there ought to call out the cheaters
Quartz (qz.com) is Spam and a Slopfarm
It used to be OK. Then they fired the staff.
Links 30/06/2025: US Economic Woes, Extreme Heat
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 29, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 29, 2025
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: "The AI Hype" and New AuraGem Ask
Links for the day
Our Desktops Are Not Your Experiments, X is Not an Experiment
Breaking what already worked
Microsoft's Big Lies Regarding This Week's Mass Layoffs Have Already Begun (and They're Already Being Spread by Slopfarms)
Microsoft is the "market leader" in slop
Explaining the Full Story of SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff
For every action there is a reaction, for every attack there will be proportionate consequences
The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part III: IRS and Status of OSI
"They lied to the US IRS and there’s a paper trail"
IBM Red Hat's Dogmatic Fanaticism Under a Thin Veil of "Modernism"
IBM now has the audacity to paint people who don't agree as "nazis"
Microsoft's Share in Guatemala Fell From 97% to 14%
Eventually Microsoft will get stuck in a loop of layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs
They Made Technology Scary and Taught Us That It's Innocent, Friendly, Even "Social"
Rejection of all this "apps" and "gadgets" and "Smart" (whatever that means!) status quo isn't a rejection of society
The Media is Under Attacks Partly Because There's Little Other (Remaining) Press to Speak in Its Defence
The biggest danger here is that when there's very little press or no "opposition media" left it becomes even easier to crush critics because there aren't many people left to speak about the matter
If Your Web Site is Run by Bots, Eventually Nobody Will 'Read' It Except Bots (People Don't Want to Read Slop)
Eventually people learn from mistakes
Links 29/06/2025: Microsoft Releases False/Fake Benchmarks, "Google Wants You to Watch Ads or Take Surveys to Read Articles"
Links for the day
Links 29/06/2025: Data Breaches and Online Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/06/2025: "The Price Of Eggs" and Gemini 3D Tic Tac Toe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 28, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 28, 2025