Answer from the European Council to MEP's question about the EPO

Summary: The EPO continues to become more of a massive liability to the reputation and functioning of the European Union (EU); tolerating the profound corruption of Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos for the sake of imposing an illegal 'legal' system is something we might expect from Putin's Russia, not Europe

READERS may remember this question which a member of the European Parliament submitted to the Council of the European Union (known as the "European Council").

Well, the answer has just been published.

"It seems that the members of the European Council have failed to understand something fundamental."Just to clarify, the European Council is "the EU institution that defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union". The members of the European Council are the heads of state or government of the 27 EU member states, the European Council President and the President of the European Commission.

So, what did the European Council have to say about the recent revelations concerning breaches of fundamental rights at the EPO?

Not a lot it seems:

The European Patent Office (EPO) is the executive body of the European Patent Organisation, an independent international organisation established by the European Patent Convention (EPC), which falls outside the institutional remit of the European Union.

The EPO Administrative Council, composed of representatives of the 38 States parties to the EPC, supervises all EPO activities and related administrative matters, including human resources questions. As the Honourable Member points out, the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organisation has ultimate jurisdiction over employment matters in the EPO.

It is therefore not for the Council to comment on this body’s internal matters.

So that's it then? The European Council is not prepared to comment on established breaches of fundamental rights at the EPO because - allegedly - these are "internal matters" for the EPO.

"The fact that the ILOAT has "ultimate jurisdiction" over employment disputes at the EPO, doesn't absolve the EU member states - all of which are also contracting states of the European Patent Convention - from their obligations under international law to safeguard and protect the fundamental rights of all EU citizens, including employees of the EPO."It seems that the members of the European Council have failed to understand something fundamental. The fact that the ILOAT has "ultimate jurisdiction" over employment disputes at the EPO, doesn't absolve the EU member states - all of which are also contracting states of the European Patent Convention - from their obligations under international law to safeguard and protect the fundamental rights of all EU citizens, including employees of the EPO.

There is something seriously wrong when the representatives of the majority of those states are prepared to repeatedly endorse measures which violate fundamental rights, such as the right to freedom of association.

But apparently the European Council can't see that.

Reliable sources report that the MEP who submitted the question to the European Council was not impressed by the answer that she received and there may well be a follow-up.

Watch this space... ⬆