The European Patent Office's Central Staff Committee Explains How Current Policy Deprives the EPO of "the Valuable Pool of Talent Already Available In-house"

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Nov 21, 2025,
updated Nov 21, 2025

Many of the best or most qualified people already left or are leaving, seeing that even the salary is going down

Last year: Job Groups 5 and 6 at the European Patent Office (EPO) Another Case of EPO Discrimination

Days ago the EPO's (European Patent Office) Central Staff Committee sent an open letter to António Campinos, who had brought cocaine addicts to run and speak for the European Patent Office.

Quoting the Central Staff Committee: "Job Group 6 colleagues have long expressed the wish to have real opportunities to progress beyond their current job group. The recent job openings could have been an opportunity to make this possible. With this in mind, the Staff Representation has sent an open letter to the President, asking that JG6 colleagues be allowed to apply for JG5 positions and thus give real meaning to the principle of a single-spine career."

Below, as plain text, HTML and GemText is the text of the open letter:

European Patent Office
80298 Munich
Germany

Central Staff Committee
Comité central du personnel
Zentraler Personalausschuss

centralSTCOM@epo.org

Reference: sc25073cl

Date: 18/11/2025

European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY

To: Mr António Campinos (President of the Office)

By email:
To: president@epo.org

OPEN LETTER

Enabling upward mobility between Job Groups 6 and 5

Dear Mr President,
Dear António,

During the recent information sessions concerning the new job openings for Formalities Officers, it was stated that these posts do not represent an opportunity for promotion. Job Group 6 colleagues were informed that they could not move up to Job Group 5 roles and that, where necessary, JG5 positions would be adapted to fit JG6 job descriptions.

In addition, several JG6 colleagues who nonetheless applied for JG5 positions were not even considered for interview, although their profiles matched the roles and teams concerned. This situation has understandably led to disappointment, as it prevents colleagues with significant seniority and expertise from progressing within the organisation. Such a restriction creates a barrier to career advancement and risks discouraging experienced staff.

This is an opportunity for management to demonstrate support for upward mobility and fair recognition of experience. An opportunity also to tangibly put into practice the single-spine career framework introduced years ago. This decision would acknowledge the extensive expertise these colleagues have developed over years of service and would frame new job offers as an opportunity for professional growth, literally creating a boost to job satisfaction and staff engagement.

Addressing the glass ceiling between job groups would send a strong and positive message of recognition and trust. For the Office, it would ultimately

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contribute to greater organisational efficiency and ensure that it does not deprive itself of the valuable pool of talent already available in-house.

We therefore respectfully encourage management to reconsider the current approach and to allow JG6 colleagues eligibility to apply for JG5 roles and be promoted to JG5 if considered suitable.

Sincerely yours,

Derek Kelly
Chairman of the Central Staff Committee

This isn't the first time they speak of the JG5 and JG6 roles.

The Office gives no incentive to improve the quality of the work done. It's just minting monopolies. █