The EPO is seated in Munich/Germany with a branch in Rijswijk (suburb of The Hague/Netherlands) and sub-offices in Berlin/Germany and Vienna/Austria.
There are (as of December 2003) twenty-seven contracting states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. In addition there are four so-called "extension states" which recognise European Patents. These are Albania, Latvia, Lithuania and Macedonia. Further countries are expected to join the EPO in due course.