Bonum Certa Men Certa

Lost in Corona: Dutch Court Rules That Seat Agreement Signed Between the EPO and the Dutch Government Violates Article 45 TFEU




Summary: The Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) and EPO staff will soon learn about another fundamental breach of law where the highest court refuses to enforce the law against the EPO's management

THE DUTCH government, already battling with an epidemic-turned-pandemic, saw issued an important decision on Friday -- a decision in which a Dutch court "cancelled the deal between the Dutch gov and the EPO, something that divided greatly SUEPO and FFPE," we've learned.



"There's no word/message from SUEPO just yet (at least nothing public)."Benjamin Henrion (FFII) said that "this was a topic that was dividing SUEPO and FFPE," taking note of the yellow old union (a branch of FFPE, friendly towards Battistelli), adding that "Article 45 TFEU is freedom of movement for workers" and "[t]he Dutch Hoge Raad has now officially confirmed: the Seat Agreement signed in 2006 by EPO with the NL Government violates Article 45 TFEU."

I cannot remark about it myself (nothing informed to say just yet), but our Dutch-speaking IRC regulars have looked into it because the page is in Dutch. We are led to "guess FFPE will put out a press release on this," according to Henrion. There's no word/message from SUEPO just yet (at least nothing public). SUEPO The Hague's subsite has not been updated so far this year.

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