TheCouncil of Europe (CoE;French:Conseil de l'Europe,CdE) is aninternational organisation with the goal of upholdinghuman rights,democracy and therule of law inEurope.[3] Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, representing 46 member states[2] from Europe,[b] with a population of approximately 675 million as of 2023[update]; it operates with an annual ordinary budget of approximately 500 millioneuros.[4]
The organisation is distinct from theEuropean Union (EU), although people sometimes confuse the two organisations – partly because the EU has adopted the originalEuropean flag, designed for the Council of Europe in 1955,[5] as well as theEuropean anthem.[6] No country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe.[7] The Council of Europe is an officialUnited Nations observer.[8]
In a speech in 1929, French Foreign MinisterAristide Briand floated the idea of an organisation which would gather European nations together in a "federal union" to resolve common problems.[15] The United Kingdom's wartime Prime MinisterWinston Churchill first publicly suggested the creation of a "Council of Europe" in a BBC radio broadcast on 21 March 1943,[16] while the Second World War was still raging. In his own words,[17] he tried to "peer through the mists of the future to the end of the war", and think about how to rebuild and maintain peace on a shattered continent. Given that Europe had been at the origin of two world wars, the creation of such a body would be, he suggested, "a stupendous business". He returned to the idea during a well-known speech at theUniversity of Zurich on 19 September 1946,[18][19] throwing the full weight of his considerable post-war prestige behind it.
Additionally, there were also many other statesmen and politicians across the continent, many of them members of theEuropean Movement, who were quietly working towards the creation of the council. Some regarded it as a guarantee that the horrors of war – or the human rights violations of the Nazi regime – could never again be visited on the continent, others came to see it as a "club of democracies", built around a set of common values that could stand as a bulwark against totalitarian states belonging to theEastern Bloc. Others again saw it as a nascent "United States of Europe", the resonant phrase that Churchill had reached for at Zurich in 1946.
The future structure of the Council of Europe was discussed at theCongress of Europe, which brought together several hundred leading politicians, government representatives and members of civil society inThe Hague, Netherlands, in 1948.[20] Responding to the conclusions of the Congress of Europe, the Consultative Council of theTreaty of Brussels convened a Committee for the Study of European Unity, which met eight times from November 1948 to January 1949 to draw up the blueprint of a new broad-based European organisation.[21]
There were two competing schools of thought: some favoured a classical international organisation with representatives of governments, while others preferred a political forum with parliamentarians. Both approaches were finally combined through the creation of a Committee of Ministers (in which governments were represented) and a Consultative Assembly (in which parliaments were represented), the two main bodies mentioned in the Statute of the Council of Europe. This dual intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary structure was later copied for theEuropean Communities,NATO andOSCE.[22]
The Council of Europe was signed into existence on 5 May 1949 by theTreaty of London, the organisation's founding Statute which set out the three basic values that should guide its work: democracy, human rights and the rule of law.[23] It was signed in London on that day by ten states:Belgium,Denmark,France,Ireland,Italy,Luxembourg, theNetherlands,Norway,Sweden and theUnited Kingdom, thoughTurkey andGreece joined three months later. On 10 August 1949, 100 members of the council's Consultative Assembly, parliamentarians drawn from the twelve member nations, met in Strasbourg for its first plenary session, held over 18 sittings and lasting nearly a month. They debated how to reconcile and reconstruct a continent still reeling from war, yet already facing a new East–West divide, launched the radical concept of a trans-national court to protect the basic human rights of every citizen, and took the first steps in a process that would eventually lead to the creation of an offshoot organisation, theEuropean Union.[24]
In August 1949,Paul-Henri Spaak resigned as Belgium's foreign minister in order to be elected as the first president of the assembly. Behind the scenes, he too had been quietly working towards the creation of the council, and played a key role in steering its early work. However, in December 1951, after nearly three years in the role, Spaak resigned in disappointment after the Assembly rejected proposals for a "European political authority".[25] Convinced that the Council of Europe was never going to be in a position to achieve his long-term goal of a unified Europe,[26] he soon tried again in a new and more promising format, based this time on economic integration, becoming one of the founders of theEuropean Union.[27]
There was huge enthusiasm for the Council of Europe in its early years, as its pioneers set about drafting what was to become theEuropean Convention on Human Rights, a charter of individual rights which – it was hoped – no member government could ever again violate. They drew, in part, on the tenets of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, signed only a few months earlier in Paris. But crucially, where the Universal Declaration was essentially aspirational, the European Convention from the beginning featured an enforcement mechanism – an international Court – which was to adjudicate on alleged violations of its articles and to hold governments to account, a dramatic leap forward for international justice. Today, this is theEuropean Court of Human Rights, whose rulings are binding on 46 European nations, the most far-reaching system of international justice anywhere in the world.
One of the council's first acts was to welcomeWest Germany into its fold on 2 May 1951,[28] setting a pattern of post-war reconciliation that was to become a hallmark of the council, and beginning a long process of "enlargement" which was to see the organisation grow from its original ten founding member states to the 46 nations that make up the Council of Europe today.[29] Iceland had already joined in 1950, followed in 1956 by Austria, Cyprus in 1961, Switzerland in 1963 and Malta in 1965.
Winston Churchill's inaugural speech of the Council of Europe in The Hague
In 2018, an archive of all speeches made to the PACE by heads of state or government since the Council of Europe's creation in 1949 appeared online, the fruit of a two-year project entitled "Voices of Europe".[30] At the time of its launch,[31] the archive comprised 263 speeches delivered over a 70-year period by some 216 presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and religious leaders from 45 countries – though it continues to expand, as new speeches are added every few months.
The full text of the speeches is given in both English and French, regardless of the original language used. The archive is searchable by country, by name, and chronologically.[32]
Article 1(a) of the Statute states that "The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress."[33] Membership is open to all European states who seek harmony, cooperation, good governance and human rights, accepting the principle of the rule of law and are able and willing to guarantee democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms.
Whereas the member states of the European Union transfer part of their national legislative and executive powers to theEuropean Commission and theEuropean Parliament, Council of Europe member states maintain their sovereignty but commit themselves through conventions/treaties (international law) and co-operate on the basis of common values and common political decisions. Those conventions and decisions are developed by the member states working together at the Council of Europe. Both organisations function as concentric circles around the common foundations for European cooperation and harmony, with the Council of Europe being the geographically wider circle. The European Union could be seen as the smaller circle with a much higher level of integration through the transfer of powers from the national to the EU level. "The Council of Europe and the European Union: different roles, shared values."[34] Council of Europe conventions/treaties are also open for signature to non-member states, thus facilitating equal co-operation with countries outside Europe.
The Council of Europe's most famous achievement is theEuropean Convention on Human Rights, which was adopted in 1950 following a report by the PACE, and followed on from the United Nations 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' (UDHR).[35] The Convention created theEuropean Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Court supervises compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and thus functions as the highest European court. It is to this court that Europeans can bring cases if they believe that a member country has violated their fundamental rights and freedoms.
The various activities and achievements of the Council of Europe can be found in detail on its official website. The Council of Europe works in the following areas:
This has also included work in the sport area advocating for safe sport[41] and developing safe sport policy self-assessment tools for national sport organisations[42][43]
Protection ofdemocracy through parliamentary scrutiny andelection monitoring by its Parliamentary Assembly as well as assistance in democratic reforms, in particular by theVenice Commission.
Promotion of cultural cooperation and diversity under the Council of Europe'sCultural Convention of 1954 and several conventions on the protection of cultural heritage as well as through its Centre for Modern Languages inGraz, Austria, and itsNorth-South Centre inLisbon, Portugal.
Support for intercultural integration through the Intercultural Cities (ICC) programme. This programme offers information and advice for local authorities on the integration of minorities and the prevention of discrimination.[46]
TheSecretary General, who is elected for a term of five years by the PACE and heads the Secretariat of the Council of Europe. Thorbjørn Jagland, the former Prime Minister of Norway, was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 29 September 2009.[47] In June 2014, he became the first Secretary General to be re-elected, commencing his second term in office on 1 October 2014.[48]
TheCommittee of Ministers, comprising the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of all 46 member states who are represented by theirPermanent Representatives and Ambassadors accredited to the Council of Europe.[49] Committee of Ministers' presidencies are held in alphabetical order for six months following the English alphabet:Iceland 11/2022-05/2023,Latvia 05/2023-11/2023, theLiechtenstein 11/2023-05/2024,Lithuania 05/2024-11/2024,Luxembourg 11/2024-05/2025,Malta 05/2025-11/2025,Moldova 11/2025-05/2026, and so on.[50]
TheParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which comprises national parliamentarians from all member states.[51] Adopting resolutions and recommendations to governments, the Assembly holds a dialogue with its governmental counterpart, theCommittee of Ministers, and is often regarded as the "motor" of the organisation. The national parliamentary delegations to the Assembly must reflect the political spectrum of their national parliament, i.e. comprise government and opposition parties. The Assembly appoints members as rapporteurs with the mandate to prepare parliamentary reports on specific subjects. The British MPSir David Maxwell-Fyfe was rapporteur for the drafting of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights.[52]Dick Marty's reports on secretCIA detentions and rendition flights in Europe became quite famous in 2006 and 2007. Other Assembly reports were instrumental in, for example, the abolition of the death penalty in Europe, highlighting the political and human rights situation inChechnya, identifying who was responsible for disappeared persons inBelarus, chronicling threats to freedom of expression in the media and many other subjects.[53]
TheCongress of Local and Regional Authorities, which was created in 1994 and comprises political representatives from local and regional authorities in all member states. The most influential instruments of the Council of Europe in this field are theEuropean Charter of Local Self-Government of 1985 and the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities of 1980.[54][55]
TheEuropean Court of Human Rights, created under theEuropean Convention on Human Rights of 1950, is composed of a judge from each member state elected for a single, non-renewable term of nine years by the PACE and is headed by the elected president of the court.[56] The current president of the court is Guido Raimondi from Italy. Under the recent Protocol No. 14 to theEuropean Convention on Human Rights, the Court's case processing was reformed and streamlined. Ratification of Protocol No. 14 was delayed by Russia for a number of years, but won support to be passed in January 2010.[57]
TheCommissioner for Human Rights is elected by the PACE for a non-renewable term of six years since the creation of this position in 1999. Since April 2024, this position has been held byMichael O'Flaherty from Ireland.[58]
The Conference of INGOs.[59] NGOs can participate in theINGOs Conference of the Council of Europe. Since the [Resolution (2003)8] adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 19 November 2003, they are given a "participatory status".[60]
The Joint Council on Youth of the Council of Europe.[61] The European Steering Committee (CDEJ) on Youth and theAdvisory Council on Youth (CCJ) of the Council of Europe form together the Joint Council on Youth (CMJ). The CDEJ brings together representatives of ministries or bodies responsible for youth matters from the 50 States Parties to the European Cultural Convention. The CDEJ fosters cooperation between governments in the youth sector and provides a framework for comparing national youth policies, exchanging best practices and drafting standard-setting texts.[62] The Advisory Council on Youth comprises 30 representatives of non-governmental youth organisations and networks. It provides opinions and input from youth NGOs on all youth sector activities and ensures that young people are involved in the council's other activities.[63]
Information Offices of the Council of Europe in many member states.
The European Support FundEurimages for the co-production and distribution of films.[64]
The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes, which awards the certification "Cultural Route of the Council of Europe" to transnational networks promoting European heritage and intercultural dialogue (Luxembourg)
ThePompidou Group – Cooperation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs.[65]
The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as theVenice Commission
The European and MediterraneanMajor Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA) which is a platform for cooperation between European and Southern Mediterranean countries in the field of major natural and technological disasters.[66]
The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, which is open to accession by states and sports associations.[67]
Occasionally the Council of Europe organises summits of the heads of state and government of its member states. Four summits have been held to date with the fourth concluding on 17 May 2023.[68][69][70]
Aerial shot of thePalace of Europe in StrasbourgCouncil of Europe's Agora building
The seat of the Council of Europe is inStrasbourg, France. First meetings were held in Strasbourg'sUniversity Palace in 1949,[71] but the Council of Europe soon moved into its own buildings. The Council of Europe's eight main buildings are situated in theQuartier européen, an area in the northeast of Strasbourg spread over the three districts of Le Wacken, La Robertsau and Quartier de l'Orangerie, where are also located the four buildings of theseat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, theArte headquarters and the seat of theInternational Institute of Human Rights.[72]
Building in the area started in 1949 with the predecessor of thePalais de l'Europe, the House of Europe (demolished in 1977), and came to a provisional end in 2007 with the opening of the New General Office Building, later named "Agora", in 2008.[73] ThePalais de l'Europe (Palace of Europe) and theArt Nouveau Villa Schutzenberger (seat of theEuropean Audiovisual Observatory) are in the Orangerie district, and theEuropean Court of Human Rights, the EDQM and the Agora Building are in the Robertsau district. The Agora building has been voted "best international business centre real estate project of 2007" on 13 March 2008, at the MIPIM 2008.[74] The European Youth Centre is located in the Wacken district.
Besides its headquarters in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe is also present in other cities and countries. The Council of Europe Development Bank has its seat in Paris, theNorth-South Centre of the Council of Europe is established inLisbon, Portugal, and the Centre for Modern Languages is inGraz, Austria. There areEuropean Youth Centres inBudapest, Hungary, and in Strasbourg. The European Wergeland Centre, a new Resource Centre on education for intercultural dialogue, human rights and democratic citizenship, operated in cooperation with the Norwegian Government, opened inOslo, Norway, in February 2009.[75]
The Council of Europe has external offices all over the European continent and beyond. There are four 'Programme Offices', namely in Ankara, Podgorica, Skopje, and Venice. There are also 'Council of Europe Offices' in Baku, Belgrade, Chisinau, Kyiv, Paris, Pristina, Sarajevo, Tbilisi, Tirana, andYerevan. Bucharest has a Council of Europe Office on Cybercrime. There are also Council of Europe Offices in non-European capital cities like Rabat and Tunis.[76]
Additionally, there are 4 "Council of Europe Liaison Offices", this includes:
Council of Europe Liaison Office in Brussels: The office is in charge of liaison with the European Union
Council of Europe Office in Geneva: Permanent Delegation of the Council of Europe to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva
Council of Europe Office in Vienna: The office is in charge of liaison with theOSCE, United Nations Office, and other international organisations in Vienna
Council of Europe Office in Warsaw: The office is in charge of liaison with other international organisations and institutions in Warsaw, in particular, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR)[76]
There are two main criteria for membership: geographic (Article 4 of the Council of Europe Statute specifies that membership is open to any "European" State) and political (Article 3 of the Statute states applying for membership must acceptdemocratic values—"Every member of the Council of Europe must accept the principles of the rule of law and the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and collaborate sincerely and effectively in the realisation of the aim of the Council as specified in Chapter I").[77][78]
Since "Europe" is not defined in international law, the definition of "Europe" has been a question that has recurred during the CoE's history.Turkey was admitted in 1950, although it is atranscontinental state that lies mostly in Asia, with a smaller portion in Europe.[78] In 1994, the PACE adopted Recommendation 1247, which said that admission to the CoE should be "in principle open only to states whose national territory lies wholly or partly in Europe"; later, however, the Assembly extended eligibility to apply and be admitted toArmenia,Azerbaijan, andGeorgia.[78]
Although most Council members are predominantly Christian in heritage, there are four Muslim-majority member states: Bosnia and Herzegovina,[89] Turkey, Albania, and Azerbaijan.[78]
The CoE has granted some countries a status that allows them to participate in CoE activities without being full members. There are three types of nonmember status:associate member,special guest andobserver.[78] Associate member status was created for former Axis states which had not yet regained their sovereignty since their defeat in the Second World War; as such, it is no longer used, although there have been proposals to reactivate it to permit enhanced participation by the current observer states.[78] "Special guest" status was used as a transitional status forpost-Soviet countries that wished to join the council after thefall of the Berlin Wall and is no longer commonly used.[78] "Observer" status is for non-European nations who accept democracy, rule of law, and human rights, and wish to participate in Council initiatives.[78] TheUnited States became an observer state in 1995.[90] Currently,Canada, theHoly See,Japan,Mexico, and theUnited States are observer states, whileIsrael is an observer to the PACE.[2] AdditionallyKosovo is a member of theCouncil of Europe Development Bank and amember of the Council of Europe'sVenice Commission.[91] TheAssembly of Kosovo was invited to take part in the work of theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its committees as an observer in 2016.[92][93] Two representatives of local government in Kosovo participate in the work of theCongress of Local and Regional Authorities as observers.[94]
TheStatute of the Council of Europe provides for the voluntary suspension, involuntary suspension, and exclusion of members.[95] Article 8 of the Statute provides that any member who has "seriously violated" Article 3 may be suspended from its rights of representation, and that the Committee of Ministers may request that such a member withdraws from the Council under Article 7. (The Statute does not define the "serious violation" phrase.[95] Under Article 8 of the Statute, if a member state fails to withdraw upon request, the Committee may terminate its membership, in consultation with the PACE.[95]
The Council suspended Greece in 1967, after amilitary coup d'état, and theGreek junta withdrew from the CoE.[95] Greece was readmitted to the council in 1974.[96]
Russia became a member of the Council of Europe in 1996. In 2014, after Russiaannexed Crimea from Ukraine andsupported separatists in eastern Ukraine, the Council stripped Russia of its voting rights in the PACE.[97] In response, Russia began to boycott the Assembly in 2016, and beginning from 2017 ceased paying its annual membership dues of 32.6 million euros (US$37.1 million) to the Council[97][98] placing the institution under financial strain.[99]
Russia stated that its suspension by the council was unfair, and demanded the restoration of its voting rights.[100] Russia had threatened to withdraw from the Council unless its voting rights were restored in time for the election of a new secretary general.[97] European Council secretary-generalThorbjørn Jagland organised a special committee to find a compromise with Russia in early 2018, a move that was criticised by some as giving in to alleged Russian pressure by Council members and academic observers, especially if voting sanctions were lifted.[99][100][101] In June 2019, an approximately two-thirds majority of the Council voted (on a 118–62 vote, with 10 abstentions) to restore Russia's voting rights in the council.[97][102] Opponents of lifting the suspension included Ukraine and otherpost-Soviet countries, such as theBaltic states, who argued that readmission amounted to normalising Russia's malign activity.[97] Supporters of restoring Russia's council rights included France and Germany,[103] which argued that a Russian withdrawal from the council would be harmful because it would deprive Russian citizens of their ability to initiate cases in theEuropean Court of Human Rights.[97]
On 3 March 2022, afterRussia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, the council suspended Russia for violations of the council's statute and theEuropean Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The suspension blocked Russia from participation in the council's ministerial council, the PACE, and theCouncil of the Baltic Sea States, but still left Russia obligated to follow the ECHR.[103][104][105] On 15 March 2022, hours before the vote to expel the country, Russia initiated a voluntary withdrawal procedure from the council. The Russian delegation planned to deliver its formal withdrawal on 31 December 2022, and announced its intent todenounce the ECHR. However, on the same day, the council's Committee of Ministers decided Russia's membership in the council would be terminated immediately, and determined that Russia had been excluded from the Council instead under its exclusion mechanism rather than the withdrawal mechanism.[106] After being excluded from the Council of Europe, Russia's former president and prime ministerDmitry Medvedev endorsed restoring thedeath penalty in Russia.[107][108]
The Council of Europe works mainly through international treaties, usually called conventions in its system. By drafting conventions or international treaties, common legal standards are set for its member states. The conventions are collected in theEuropean Treaty Series.
Invitations to sign and ratify relevant conventions of the Council of Europe on a case-by-case basis are sent to three groups of non-member entities:[110]
Non-European states: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritius, Morocco, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, South Korea, Syria, Tajikistan, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uruguay, Venezuela and the observers Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico, United States.
European states: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Russia and the observer Holy See.
Cooperation between theEuropean Union and the Council of Europe was reinforced in the mid-2000s, notably on culture and education as well as on the international enforcement of justice and Human Rights.[113]
The European Union is expected to accede to theEuropean Convention on Human Rights (the convention). There are also concerns about consistency in case law – theEuropean Court of Justice (the EU's court inLuxembourg) is treating the convention as part of the legal system of allEU member states in order to prevent conflict between its judgements and those of theEuropean Court of Human Rights (the court inStrasbourg interpreting the convention). Protocol No. 14 of the convention is designed to allow the EU to accede to it and the EUTreaty of Lisbon contains a protocol binding the EU to join. The EU would thus be subject to its human rights law and external monitoring as its member states currently are.[114][115]
The Council of EuropeSchools of Political Studies were established to train future generations of political, economic, social and cultural leaders in countries in transition. With the participation of national and international experts, they run annual series of seminars and conferences on topics such as European integration, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and globalisation. The first School of Political Studies was created in Moscow in 1992. By 2020, 20 other schools had been set up along the same lines, forming an association;[116] a network covering the whole of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, as well as some countries in the Southern Mediterranean region. The schools are part of the Education Department, which is part of the Directorate of Democratic Participation within the Directorate General of Democracy ("DGII") of the Council of Europe.[117]
Cooperation between the CoE and theUN started with the agreement signed by the Secretariats of these institutions on 15 December 1951. On 17 October 1989, theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations approved a resolution on granting observer status to the Council of Europe which was proposed by several member states of the CoE.[118] Currently, the Council of Europe holdsobserver status with theUnited Nations and is regularly represented in theUN General Assembly. It has organised the regional UN conferences against racism and on women. It co-operates with the United Nations at many levels, in particular in the areas of human rights, minorities, migration and counter-terrorism. In November 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus Resolution (A/Res/71/17) on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe whereby it acknowledged the contribution of the Council of Europe to the protection and strengthening of human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law, welcomed the ongoing co-operation in a variety of fields.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can participate in theINGOs Conference of the Council of Europe and become observers to inter-governmental committees of experts. The Council of Europe drafted theEuropean Convention on the Recognition of the Legal Personality of International Non-Governmental Organisations in 1986, which sets the legal basis for the existence and work of NGOs in Europe. Article 11 of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights protects the right to freedom of association, which is also a fundamental norm for NGOs. The rules forconsultative status for INGOs appended to the resolution (93)38 "On relation between the Council of Europe andnon-governmental organisations", adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 18 October 1993 at the 500th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies. On 19 November 2003, the Committee of Ministers changed the consultative status into a participatory status, "considering that it is indispensable that the rules governing the relations between the Council of Europe and NGOs evolve to reflect the active participation of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in the Organisation's policy and work programme".[119]
The Council of Europe also signed an agreement with FIFA in which the two agreed to strengthen future cooperation in areas of common interests. The deal which included cooperation between member states in the sport of football and safety and security at football matches was finalised in October 2018.[121]
The Council of Europe is one of the leading international organisations dedicated to the promotion of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across the European continent. Civil society organisations (CSOs) are integral to the Council's work, functioning as partners and expert contributors in shaping policies and supporting the protection of fundamental rights.
The Council of Europe actively encourages civil society engagement, particularly through the participation of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in its various platforms and bodies.
CSOs contribute to a broad range of Council initiatives related to human rights protection, democratic consolidation, and legal reforms. Their expertise and field-level knowledge enrich the policy-making process and help ensure that rights-based approaches are grounded in practical realities.
CSOs may take part in conferences, sessions, and working groups organised by the Council. They are often invited to submit reports, policy proposals, and findings from their own research. The Council places particular emphasis on involving CSOs in thematic dialogues that advance democratic institutions and safeguard civil liberties.[122]
International CSOs (INGOs) may apply forparticipatory status, a designation that allows them to engage more actively in the Council's policy work. With this status, INGOs can present professional positions, contribute to working documents, and operate as partners in decision-making processes.
To qualify for participatory status, organisations must meet specific criteria established by the Council, including demonstrable international scope and proven experience in areas such as human rights or democratic governance. Once granted, participatory status enables CSOs to attend various Council meetings and express their views on relevant issues.
Further information on the criteria and application procedure is available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/ingo/participatory-status
CSOs may also engage through theConference of International Non-Governmental organisations (INGOs) of the Council of Europe, which serves as the primary platform for civil society participation in CoE initiatives. The Conference allows organisations to voice their positions, build coalitions, and influence decision-making processes.
Through thematic discussions, the Conference addresses critical issues such as human rights, social justice, democratic governance, and institutional transparency. It provides an avenue for INGOs to collaborate and contribute meaningfully to the Council's agenda.
For participation guidelines and detailed information, see: https://www.coe.int/en/web/ingo
The General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe grants the organisation certain privileges and immunities.[123]
The working conditions of staff are governed by the council's staff regulations, which are public.[124] Salaries and emoluments paid by the Council of Europe to its officials are tax-exempt on the basis of Article 18 of the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe.[123]
The Council of Europe created, and has since 1955 used as its official symbol, theEuropean Flag with 12 golden stars arranged in a circle on a blue background.
On 5 May 1964, the 15th anniversary of its founding, the Council of Europe established 5 May asEurope Day.[125]
The wide private and public use of the European Flag is encouraged to symbolise a European dimension. To avoid confusion with theEuropean Union which subsequently adopted the same flag in the 1980s, as well as other European institutions, the Council of Europe often uses a modified version with a lower-case "e" surrounding the stars which are referred to as the "Council of Europe Logo".[125][126]
Both Human Rights Watch and the European Stability Initiative have called on the Council of Europe to undertake concrete actions to show that it is willing and able to return to its "original mission to protect and ensure human rights",[127] despite launching political and economic activities that could generate redundancies with other international organisations (including theEuropean Union andOCSE).[128][129][130]
In October 2022, a new and different Pan-European meeting of 44 states was held, as the "inaugural summit of theEuropean Political Community", a new forum largely organised by French PresidentEmmanuel Macron. The Council of Europe, sidelined, reportedly was "perplexed" with this development, with a spokesperson stating "In the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, such a pan-European community already exists: it is the Council of Europe."[131] A feature of the new forum is thatRussia andBelarus are deliberately excluded,[131] which was not seen as explaining the need for a different entity, given that at the time, Russia was no longer a member of the Council of Europe and Belarus only participated partially, as a non-member.[citation needed]
After Azerbaijan joined the CoE in 2001, both the Council and its Parliamentary Assembly were criticised for having a weak response to election rigging andhuman rights violations in Azerbaijan.[132] TheHuman Rights Watch criticised the Council of Europe in 2014 for allowing Azerbaijan to assume the six-month rotating chairmanship of the council's Committee of Ministers, writing that the Azeri government's repression of human rights defenders, dissidents, and journalists "shows sheer contempt for its commitments to the Council of Europe".[133] An internal inquiry was set up in 2017 amid allegations of bribery by Azerbaijan government officials and criticism of "caviar diplomacy" at the council.[134][135] A 219-page report was issued in 2018 after a ten-month investigation.[132] It concluded that several members of the Parliamentary Assembly broke CoE ethical rules and were "strongly suspected" of corruption; it strongly criticised former Parliamentary Assembly presidentPedro Agramunt and suggested that he had engaged in "corruptive activities" before his resignation under pressure in 2017.[132] The inquiry also named Italian memberLuca Volontè as a suspect in "activities of a corruptive nature".[132] Volontè was investigated by Italian police and accused by Italian prosecutors in 2017 of receiving over 2.39 million euros in bribes in exchange for working for Azerbaijan in the parliamentary assembly, and that in 2013 he played a key role in orchestrating the defeat of a highly critical report on the abuse of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.[134][135][136] In 2021, Volontè was convicted of accepting bribes from Azerbaijani officials to water down critiques of the nation's human rights record, and he was sentenced by a court inMilan to four years in prison.[137]
^"Winston Churchill and the Council of Europe".Council of Europe: Archiving and Documentary Resources. Council of Europe. 6 April 2009. Retrieved18 November 2013., including audio extracts
^Sandro Guerrieri, "From the Hague Congress to the Council of Europe: hopes, achievements and disappointments in the parliamentary way to European integration (1948–51)."Parliaments, Estates and Representation 34#2 (2014): 216–227.
^"Statute of the Council of Europe is signed in London". Council of Europe. Retrieved23 June 2019.On 5 May 1949, at St James's Palace, London, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty establishing the Council of Europe.
^"Turkey". Council of Europe. Retrieved23 June 2019. andGreece
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