In the Süddeutsche Zeitung (Thursday, 17.10.2013), Christopher Schrader'sarticle "Im Niemandsland"* outlined why staff at the EPO were on strikeon the day of the official celebrations to mark the 40th anniversaryof the EPC.
Another article, Streik zum Jübiläum appearedonline on 18.10.2013.
* © Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH, München.Mit freundliche Genehmigung von http://www.sz-content.de (Süddeutsche Zeitung Content).
The Central Executive Committee of SUEPO has sent a letter to the governements of the Member States on 14 June 2013 drawing the attention on the EPOrg trying to limit freedom of association.The letter can be consulted.
On 26 June 2013, staff in Munich have been demonstrating in Munich before the Administrative Council of the EPOrg for Access to Justice, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Association.
The media coverage (in German) includes the Süddeutsche Zeitung (archive), Stern (archive),the Abendzeitung München(archive), the Berliner Kurier(archive) and many others (to be added soon).
The Central Executive Committee of SUEPO has sent a letter to the French governement on 13 June drawing the attention of the French governement of the situation in the EPO.The letter (in French) can be consulted.
Between the 17 and 24 June 2013, the local SUEPO committees in Munich, The Hague, Berlin and Vienna have organised ballots to decide on the the continuation of the industrial actions.Here is the result of these four ballots.The continuation of the industrial actions has been massively decided by SUEPO membership in all four duty stations.
The Global Union federation - Public Services International -lobbiesthe ILO Governing Body to address serious problemswith the Legal Protection of international civil servants
On 27 June 2013, the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation has approved document CA/57/13. With it, the European Patent Organisation has joined the ranks of the countries in which the employer decides whether employees are allowed to go on strike.
Lawyer Ulf Weber has assessed the conformity of these dispositions with respect to fundamental rights (in German).
On 27 June 2013, the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation has approved document CA 56/13. Lawyer ?enay Okyay has assessed the conformity of these dispositions with respect to the German law (in German).
In its June meeting the Administrative Council of the EPO decided to abolish its only recently created Audit Committee(see below). Mr. Paul Ernst, Member of the Audit Committee, comments in a SUEPO interview
With an annual operation budget of close to 1.5 billion Euros the EuropeanPatent Organisation needs a strong governance mechanism to guarantee goodpractice and transparency. This is particularly important since due to itsimmunity the EPO is not subject to the checks and balances common in most national systems.
In order to improve the existing governance, the previous President, Ms Brimelow, proposed the introduction of an Audit Committee (seeCA/140/08).
The Administrative Council, at the time chaired by Mr Battistelli, approvedthe proposal (seeCA/D 9/09).
As President of the EPO, Mr Battistelli recentlyproposed to abolish the Audit Committee (CA/55/11).
The Council, once again, approved.
The Staff Union of the EPO considers the abolition of the Audit Committeepremature and instead argues that further measures to strengthen goodgovernance such as the introduction of a whistle-blower policy and a Code ofConduct are necessary before removing existing mechanisms.