Rollback of fundamental rights at the European Patent Office

Written declaration No. 596 | Doc. 13836 | 25 June 2015

Signatories:

Mr Pierre-Yves LE BORGN', France, SOC ; Mr Pedro AGRAMUNT, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Aleida ALAVEZ RUIZ, Mexico ; Ms Brigitte ALLAIN, France, SOC ; Lord Donald ANDERSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Paride ANDREOLI, San Marino, SOC ; Mr Christian BARILARO, Monaco, ALDE ; Mr Joe BENTON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Philippe BIES, France, SOC ; Ms Gülsün BİLGEHAN, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Maryvonne BLONDIN, France, SOC ; Mr Jean-Marie BOCKEL, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Sílvia Eloïsa BONET PEROT, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Eloy CANTU SEGOVIA, Mexico ; Mr Khalid CHAOUKI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Lise CHRISTOFFERSEN, Norway, SOC ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Paolo CORSINI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Pascale CROZON, France, SOC ; Mr Geraint DAVIES, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Namik DOKLE, Albania, SOC ; Ms Josette DURRIEU, France, SOC ; Mr Gvozden Srećko FLEGO, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Paul FLYNN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Bernard FOURNIER, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Béatrice FRESKO-ROLFO, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Ms Darina GABÁNIOVÁ, Slovak Republic, SOC ; Mr Gerardo GIOVAGNOLI, San Marino, SOC ; Ms Geneviève GOSSELIN-FLEURY, France, SOC ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ, Spain, SOC ; Ms Maria GUZENINA, Finland, SOC ; Mr Tore HAGEBAKKEN, Norway, SOC ; Ms Monica HAIDER, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Gábor HARANGOZÓ, Hungary, SOC ; Ms Gabriela HEINRICH, Germany, SOC ; Mr Florin IORDACHE, Romania, SOC ; Mr Tadeusz IWIŃSKI, Poland, SOC ; Ms Eva-Lena JANSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Josip JURATOVIC, Germany, SOC ; Mr Niklas KARLSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Mr Jean-Yves LE DÉAUT, France, SOC ; Ms Valentina LESKAJ, Albania, SOC ; Mr François LONCLE, France, SOC ; Mr Jacob LUND, Denmark, SOC ; Mr Philippe MAHOUX, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Marit MAIJ, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Milica MARKOVIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SOC ; Ms Martine MARTINEL, France, SOC ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Attila MESTERHÁZY, Hungary, SOC ; Ms Melita MULIĆ, Croatia, SOC ; Ms Oľga NACHTMANNOVÁ, Slovak Republic, SOC ; Mr Andrei NEGUTA, Republic of Moldova, SOC ; Mr Michele NICOLETTI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Žarko OBRADOVIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Ms Carina OHLSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Florin Costin PÂSLARU, Romania, SOC ; Mr Ľubomir PETRÁK, Slovak Republic, SOC ; Ms Catherine QUÉRÉ, France, SOC ; Ms Mechthild RAWERT, Germany, SOC ; Mr François ROCHEBLOINE, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Soraya RODRÍGUEZ, Spain, SOC ; Ms Maria de Belém ROSEIRA, Portugal, SOC ; Mr René ROUQUET, France, SOC ; Mr Àlex SÁEZ, Spain, SOC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Frithjof SCHMIDT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Mr Predrag SEKULIĆ, Montenegro, SOC ; Mr Kåre SIMENSEN, Norway, SOC ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Petra De SUTTER, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Chiora TAKTAKISHVILI, Georgia, ALDE ; Lord John E. TOMLINSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Birutė VĖSAITĖ, Lithuania, SOC ; Mr Eric VORUZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Klaas de VRIES, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Nataša VUČKOVIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Mr Jordi XUCLÀ, Spain, ALDE

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

On 17 February 2015, the Hague Court of Appeal condemned the European Patent Office (EPO), arguing that its internal dispute settlement system led to a rollback of fundamental rights enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights and the European Social Charter. The Court considered that the EPO could not invoke its immunity when a trade union is deprived of any means to challenge violations of the personnel's rights, for want of any legal remedy before the International Labour Organisation Administrative Tribunal or via any other internal procedure.

An international organisation cannot become a place of lesser law, sheltered by its jurisdictional immunity. Restraining the right of association, reducing the right to go on strike, preventing the personnel from being entitled to collective bargaining, depriving all organisations from any effective remedy and failing to carry out a court decision are all unacceptable developments. We call on the 38 member States of the EPO, all members of the Council of Europe, to bring this situation to an end and urge the EPO's management to comply with the decision of the Hague Court of Appeal.