European Patent Office (EPO) President, Mr. Campinos, Ignoring Its Staff While Protecting His Friends
Last month: EPO Cocainegate Escalates - Part II - "Cocaine Communication Manager" Luis Berenguer is Back Without Punishment | EPO Cocainegate Escalates - Part III - Connected Families - The Cocaine User Luis Berenguer and António Campinos
"Dear members, dear colleagues," the union (SUEPO TH committee) wrote yesterday. "After months of industrial action and repeated calls for negotiation, Mr. Campinos continues to ignore the voice of staff. While governments in Germany and the Netherlands reached negotiated agreements on salary adjustments following labour disputes, the EPO administration has refused to move, despite the Office’s excellent financial situation. With thousands of strike participations and massive production drop, staff have sent a clear message: the proposed salary adjustment procedure is unfair and unacceptable."
"It is time for the President to stop imposing unilateral decisions and engage in genuine negotiations with staff representation and SUEPO."
There is a new publication associated with this. It's from the Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO). We reproduce it today as GemText, HTML, and plain text below.
INTERNATIONALE GEWERKSCHAFT IM EUROPÄISCHEN PATENTAMT
STAFF UNION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE
UNION SYNDICALE DE L'OFFICE EUROPEEN DES BREVETSOrtssektion Den Haag
Local section The Hague
Section locale La Haye13 May 2026
su26017hpWhat is the normal outcome after months of industrial actions?
Civil servants in Germany and the Netherlands reached agreements over salary adjustment disputes. EPO management haven't moved an inch.
Industrial actions related to the new salary adjustment procedure (SAP) started at the EPO in January 2026. After months of discussions with the administration, and finally a meeting with the President in April 2026, the outcome is highly disappointing, but has come to be expected: no proposal from the staff representation or SUEPO has been taken on board.
Same trigger, different outcomes; an evident governance issue
So, this is how life goes at the EPO: an administration and a President who ignore staff and contrary to all social dialogue good practice, refuse to engage in meaningful negotiation. Meanwhile, industrial actions on salary adjustment were carried out in Germany and in the Netherlands. In both countries, these actions led to negotiated outcomes. The result is diametrically opposed to what EPO staff is faced with: in Germany, civil servants’ salaries will see an overall increase of 5.8%, while in the Netherlands they are set for a pay rise of 2.7%.
Make no mistake: this is not a question of affordability. With €20 billion in funds, robust filing, and increasing productivity, the EPO has far greater financial flexibility than national administrations, which are constrained by public budgets. If those countries can deliver fair salary adjustments, the EPO certainly can. The difference lies elsewhere: in Germany and
the Netherlands, social dialogue leads to negotiation and results. At the EPO, industrial action is met with unilateral decisions. This is not an economic constraint; it is a governance choice.
Sustainability is a cover up
The invoked “sustainability” is nothing more than a gimmick pertaining at pleasing the Administrative Council. Instead, the real motive behind the administration’s inflexibility is to secure positions within the organisation and ensure the re-election of Mr Campinos. The SAP proposal was designed for governance and personal ambitions optics, not staff fairness.
Credibility gap of the administration
To add insult to injury, a last-minute measure has been introduced to limit the adjustment to 6% in case of high inflation. In the last GCC, the Administration justified this new measure by stating that the high inflation recorded in 2022 was exceptional and therefore that such levels of inflation would not ordinarily occur.
Here, we draw a different conclusion from the same statement: since high inflation is expected to be very rare, the method should allow for full adjustment in such cases, not restrict it. If high inflation is called exceptional, then why is it a trigger for a new restricting measure? This shows not only inconsistency but also bad faith from the designers of the salary method.
The EPO’s strength lies in its staff
The administration likes to emphasise that staff represents 80% of the costs, implying that staff are too expensive. But this is easily justified by the fact that staff is the only driving force of the EPO, would they rather have higher overheads to reduce the 80%? Staff delivers production, quality and revenue. Undervaluing staff is not cost control it is undermining the organisation’s core asset.
With a production behind plan of over 10,000 products, 23% fewer grants than planned in the first 4 months of 2026, and cumulatively over 9,000 participations in the rolling strikes so far, staff has spoken clearly and is massively rejecting the salary adjustment procedure as tabled. Ignoring this signal does not make it disappear, it weakens the organisation. It is time the President listens to the voice of staff and engages in serious negotiations with staff representation and SUEPO.
Stop ignoring staff Mr. Campinos!
Your SUEPO TH committee, M18B10 and De Bruyn Kopsstraat, 15, Rijswijk
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That the President is covering up cocaine use while ignoring his own workers says a lot about what this patent office truly became. █
