"It is the function of the Administrative Council to hold the President and senior management of the EPO to account, and Europe is watching to see signs that [the delegations] are doing this. Members of the EU are also watching with concern since the EPO is crucial to the future success of the Unitary Patent."
Concerning the governance issues, the article quotes that "Battistelli controls the flows of money, so [the delegations of the Administrative Council] would be crazy to contradict him.""Characteristic of the behaviour of Benoît Battistelli is the renovation of the tenth floor of the ISAR building which is said to have cost millions of Euros".
The article was also published in the paper version of 21 March 2015.Translations in English, French and German are available by scrolling through the document.
Translations in English, German and French are available by scrolling through the document.
Regarding the suicide of an employee who jumped out the window at the workplace in The Hague in 2013, Benoît Battistelli says that"There was no reason to assume a connection with his work. The Dutch police investigated and found out that it was clearly a suicide. We have no reason to do more. The Labour Inspectorate in the Netherlands has no reason to intervene in such a case. We are not a Dutch agency."
Regarding social dialogue, Battistelli concludes "I'm open. But we also have troublesome unions. A mix of French unions with German efficiency: a dangerous cocktail."
The interview was also published in the paper version of 21 March 2015.Translations in English, French and German are available by scrolling through the document.
There are two key areas of concern:
In a communiqué (en,fr,de) published by the European Federation of Public Service Unions, Agnes Jongerius asks, "Does Europe apply double standards?".
On Wednesday 25 March 2015 a demonstration will take place in Munich in front of the EPO Isar building (Bob-van-Benthem-Platz 1) starting at 12.30h.
The demonstration aims in particular at the German delegation in the Administrative Council. As the representatives of a host country and of one of the founding Member States, the German delagation has a special responsibility towards EPO staff.
Staff of the EPO reproach the German delegation that it has thus far uncritically supported all previous reforms that in various ways infringed staff’s fundamental rights to freedom of speech, freedom of association, inviolability of the home and other.
In his view, the judgment of the Dutch Court of Appeal "would merit, at the very least, with regard both to its expectations and its consequences, a debate between the Member States within the Administrative Council" but Mr Battistelli has already "announced to the staff that theorganisation would not be submitting to the ruling by the Court". "When one has lost immunity from jurisdiction, it is futile to invoke despairingly immunity from enforcement."
Pierre-Yves Le Borgn' also makes a series of proposals to emerge from the cricis. These include an independent social audit, a conference of the ministers every two years (none took place since 2000), and that the exercise of the Chairing of the Administrative Council becomes incompatible with candidature for the Presidency of the EPO.
Translations in English, German and Dutch are available by scrolling through the document.