Alternatively, a declaration that the European patent application is a complete translation of the previous application may be submitted within those same time limits (see also F‑VI, 3.4, and D‑VII, 2). The declaration may already be made by crossing the appropriate box in the request for grant form (EPO Form 1001). This declaration is only valid if the text of the European application as filed is an exact translation of the text of the previous application of which priority is claimed, meaning that nothing has been added or omitted vis-à-vis the text of the previous application. If the European application did not contain claims on the date of filing (see A‑II, 4.1), the applicant can file these later (see A‑III, 15). In such cases, for the declaration to be valid, the description of the European application must be an exact translation of the description of the claimed priority, regardless of whether the latter contained claims on its filing date. However, where the European application contains claims on its date of filing and the previous application did not contain claims on its filing date or contained fewer claims on its filing date, the declaration is not valid. Furthermore, if the European application contains more or less text than is contained in the previous application as filed, such a declaration cannot be accepted. Where the declaration cannot be accepted for any of the above reasons, in order to comply with the requirement for filing a translation, a complete translation must be filed within the set time limit. A merely different arrangement of the various elements (i.e. the claims vs. the description) of the application does not affect the validity of such a declaration (for example, the claims are presented at the end of the application, whereas in the previous application they are at the beginning), nor does a different type of reference sign (e.g. Arabic rather than Roman numerals). However, a declaration is not acceptable if changes have been made within the parts of the application (e.g. different order of claims, added reference signs) or if sections of the application (e.g. listing of components, section headings and words in the drawings) are not identical to those in the previous application.

Where a European patent application claims multiple priorities, it will only in exceptional cases be a translation of the full text of one of the previous applications. In such cases, a declaration may be filed in respect of the identical previous application, while a complete translation of the other previous application(s) will have to be filed on request.