Report from the 96th Council Meeting held on 11 November 2023 in Ljubljana

One highlight of the meeting was the validation by Council of the elections to the Committees which for the first time were organized via online voting, according to the Rules for Committees Election voted on by Council during the C92 meeting. Despite the challenges associated with the new procedure, Mr MARX, Chair of the Committees Election Committee, was happy to report that the vote went rather smoothly and that potential improvements to the procedure were identified. The official results of the elections, and the composition of the Committees are available here.

Congratulations to all elected members and all the best for their mandate.

• A decision to increase to the subscription fee from 190 EUR to 250 EUR (the last increase in the subscription fee was in 2016).
• With respect to the epi Code of Conduct:
  a decision to amend article 4 (d), (e), (f) ; and
  a decision to add a new article 8 (epi elections); and
  a decision to update and improve its current wording.
• A decision to support the eEQE package as presented during the meeting, with motions being passed to (a) disagree with the current wording of Articles 11(2)(b) and 14(2) REE and Rule 6(6) IPREE, and (b) reject the justifications presented in support of Articles 11(2)(b)(iii) and 14(2) REE.
• A decision in favour of a support (by the EPO) for economically weak applicants provided that the support (a) effectively reaches deserving applicants, (b) is not liable to distort applicant behaviour with a view to gathering that support, and (c) does not significantly increase costs for other applicants.

As usual a more detailed report of the Council meeting will be available in the next issue of epi Information.

Marc Névant (Editorial Committee)