Press communiqué of Federal FFPE Bureau

Statement by the Federal Bureau of the FFPE FFPE signs Memorandum of Understanding with the European Patent Office Brussels, 2 March 2016 The Federal Bureau of the European Civil Service Federation (Fédération de la fonction publique européenne (FFPE)) welcomes the signing today, Wednesday 2 March 2016, of an historic Memorandum of Understanding between the FFPE branch at the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Office’s President, Benoît Battistelli. In a difficult context the path to signature has not been easy, but the FFPE believes that the commitment shown by both sides to the negotiations reaching a successful conclusion offers the best guarantee for constructive social dialogue in EPO in the weeks, months and years ahead. The FFPE is particularly pleased that a preliminary agenda for joint negotiations has already been proposed, covering issues of the greatest importance to EPO staff such as the “rewards envelope”, investigation guidelines, disciplinary procedures, strike regulations…