Résumé

In its decisions Perez and Klausecker rendered on 6 January 2015, the European Court of Human Rights reaffirms its case law derived from the decisions Waite and Kennedy and Bosphorus. However, the way it applies the principles allowing the Court to engage a State’s responsibility for violations of the human rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights may lead to an erosion of the obligation of a State to protect these rights, as the Court seems to require implicitly their protection to be “manifestly deficient”, including in the framework of the proportionality test developed in the decision Waite and Kennedy. In the end, the Court protects in any way possible the autonomy of International Organisations. This might lead however to the hardly desirable consequence that International Organisations and their Member States are free not to apply the same standard of human rights protection as the Convention offers to acts and omissions of the Organisation – even to Organisations where all Member States are a Party to the Convention.

The letter reads:

Dear Colleagues, I am writing to send you solidarity greetings from EPSU for your action on 7 April. We hope that the strike is solidly supported across all the European Patent Office sites. We have been following the dispute and keeping our affiliates informed (www.epsu.org/a/11984). A victory in this dispute will be important not just for EPO employees and the two trade union representatives who were dismissed in January but will have broader implications in terms of social dialogue and collective bargaining rights in international institutions. It is a matter of major concern that the EPO management has been arguing that European and international rights do not apply to bodies like the EPO. A successful outcome for SUEPO will send a clear message that employees in international institutions will not be denied these rights. Yours, Jan Willem Goudriaan, EPSU General Secretary

• “Patentamt: Mitarbeiter streiken” (Donaukurier, 31 March 2016).
• “Peinliches Justiz-Vakuum” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 28 March 2016). Translations are available in English, French and Dutch.
• “Krisensitzung in München - Das Europäische Patentamt kommt nicht zur Ruhe” (Stuttgarter-Zeitung, 19 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “Battistelli is teruggefloten” (NRC, 18 March 2016).
• “Supervisory board EPO votes for reforms, increasing the pressure on president Benoît Battistelli” (Kluwer Patent Blog, 18 March 2016). Translations are available in French and German.
• “EPO’s Admin Council chair expects action by June” (Managing Intellectual Property, 18 March 2016).
• “Konflikt im Europäischen Patentamt: Blaues Auge für Battistelli” (JUVE, 18 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “It's not too late for a resolution of the EPO's social conflict and it's in everyone's interests to make it happen” (IAM, 18 March 2016).
• “Europäisches Patentamt: Verwaltungsrat schimpft mit dem Präsidenten” (Heise, 18 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “147th meeting of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation (Munich, 16 March 2016)” (EPOrg, 17 March 2016).
• “Battistelli bleibt trotz Protesten im Amt” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 17 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “Lidstaten EPO willen de-escalatie met vakbond” (fd.nl, 17 March 2016).
• “Euro Patent Office prez survives crunch talks – but pressure mounts” (The Register, 17 March 2016). Translations are available in French and German.
• “Verwaltungsrat will ’sozialen Dialog’ beim Europäischen Patentamt” (Focus, 17 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “Lidstaten Octrooibureau willen rechtvaardige sancties” (NRC, 17 March 2016). Translations are available in English, French and German.
• “Lidstaten vóór herziening strafmaatregelen Battistelli” (NRC, 17 March 2016).
• “Vruchteloos gesprek octrooibaas” (De Telegraaf, 16 March 2016). Translations are available in English, French and German.
• “2000 gegen einen” (Donaukurier, 16 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “EPA-Konflikt: Schonfrist für Battistelli” (JUVE, 16 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “LABOR DISPUTE - Daggers Drawn at European Patent Office” (Handelsblatt, 16 March 2016).
• “Baas Europees Octrooibureau vertrekt boos bij Van Dam” (NRC, 16 March 2016). Translations are available in English, French and German.
• “Het wordt een pijnlijke bijeenkomst” (NRC, 16 March 2016). Translations are available in English, French and German.
• “Angry EU patent office chief breaks off talks with Dutch minister: NRC” (DutchNews.nl, 16 March 2016).
• “Staatssecretaris voert vruchteloos gesprek met omstreden octrooibaas” (nu.nl, 16 March 2016).
• “L'Epa, c'est moi” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 15 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “Angst, Mobbing, Entlassungen” (Donaukurier, 15 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• “Verwaltungsrat berät über Zwist beim Europäischen Patentamt” (München.tv, 15 March 2016).
• “Querelen beim europäischen Patentamt - Aufstand im Paradies” (Handelsblatt, 15 March 2016).
• “Angst im Europäischen Patentamt: Wer kritisiert, wird entlassen” (blog.campact, 15 March 2016). Translations are available in English (version 1 and version 2), French and Dutch.
• “FREIE WÄHLER wollen Europäisches Patentamt in die Pflicht nehmen / Schmidt: Bayerisches Niveau beim Arbeitnehmerschutz in ganz Bayern sichern” (BundesWirtschaftsPortal, 15 March 2016). The same communiqué has been issued on the website of Freie Wähler, which also refers to their urgent request (Dringlichkeitsantrag). Translations of the communiqué are available in English and French.
• “EPO's Admin Council meets amid demonstration and strike threats” (Managing Intellectual Property, 14 March 2016).
• “La commission des affaires européennes auditionne le président de l’OEB” (Philip Cordery, 14 March 2016).
• “EPO Union Presses Management To Reverse President’s Disciplinary Actions” (IP-Watch, 14 March 2016).
• “EPO Performance 1 - application pendency times” (IPKAT, 12 March 2016).
• “EPO staff to hold demo to coincide with AC meeting” (WIPR, 10 March 2016).
• “EPO staff vote for strike action” (WIPR, 9 March 2016).
• “Battistelli under pressure like never before as over half of EPO staff vote for strike action” (IAM, 9 March 2016).
• “Strike! European Patent Office staff vote in their thousands for walkout” (The Register, 8 March 2016).
• “Europäisches Patentamt Deutsches Arbeitsrecht gilt hier nicht” (Deutschlandfunk, 6 March 2016). The audio report is close to the report made by the Bayerischer Rundfunk on TV on 2 March 2016.
• “‘Ik verdien 300.000 euro per jaar’” (NRC, 4 March 2016). Translations are available in English, French and German.
• “EPA: Schnelle Erfolgsmeldung zum Dialog mit kleinen Gewerkschaften” (JUVE, 3 March 2016).
• “PR-Gag: Europäisches Patentamt will Gewerkschaft anerkennen” (Heise, 3 March 2016).
• “Un hiérarque français sur la sellette” (blog post from latribune.fr, 3 March 2016). Translations are available in English, German and Dutch.
• “European Patents Rising; EPO President Denies Retirement Package” (IP-Watch, 3 March 2016).
• “Akkoord Europees Octrooibureau met vakbond die 1 procent personeel vertegenwoordigt” (NRC, 2 March 2016). Translations are available in English, French and German.
• “Europäisches Patentamt: Behörde am Abgrund” (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2 March 2016). Translations are available in English and French.
• [Video] “Die Story: Wenn der Traumjob zum Albtraum wird” (BR, Kontrovers, 2 March 2016). The video was removed by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) from its media library. Subtitles in English, French and German are provided here.
• “EPO deal with trade union - not what it seems” (IPKAT, 2 March 2016).
• “European Patent Office inks deal with staff union it isn't locked in death spiral with” (The Register, 2 March 2016).
• “Europees octrooibureau erkent vakbond” (fd.nl, 2 March 2016).
• “Europäisches Patentamt in München - Rechtsfreier Raum mitten in Deutschland?” (br.de, 2 March 2016).
• “Europe's potential to sit at the heart of the global patent market may have to be reconsidered” (IAM, 1 March 2016).

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