Campinos is a Lame Duck President This Year at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The aggressor lost the ability to lead; will the Council lead him to the nearest exit door?
From what we can gather, based on text published and disseminated today by the union of EPO staff or more specifically SUEPO in Munich, the Lame Duck President (the one who sleeps with the sister of "Cocaine Communication Manager", whom he is protecting unconditionally) tries to deflect and has virtually no way to stop the industrial actions at this point. In "Weeks of 27 April to 8 May," the union says, "Work-To-Rule continues, and Strike on Monday 4 May and Friday 8 May" (in The Hague it's any day of the week).
Here's the longer message, showing how the meeting ended up:
Dear SUEPO members,
Dear Colleagues,The President still plans a further erosion of EPO salaries, pensions and other benefits estimated at –1% per year below the evolution of costs of living without any financial justification.
The trade union SUEPO met the President and the three Vice-Presidents on Thursday 23 April 2026, at 11.00 hrs, a meeting he scheduled to take place just 3 hours before the meeting of the General Consultative Committee where the proposed new salary adjustment procedure (SAP) was tabled.
The President came empty handed and only repeated the same tired narrative, hiding behind the demands of some delegates, claiming that it is not him who wants to erode our salaries, but the Administrative Council that insists on it. The President has at his disposal a plethora of strong arguments, including the impressive financial situation of the Office, €20 billion in funds, with all pension liabilities more than covered and productivity increases in double digits in recent years. Nevertheless, he still fails to protect staff purchasing power.
The strikes are not ending. If anything, they intensify further.
Will the Council tell the Lame Duck to start looking for another job? █
6 months ago: Annus Horribilis at the European Patent Office (EPO)