Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; French: Conseil de l'Europe, CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe.[2] Founded in 1949, it brings together 46 member states[b] with a population of approximately 675 million as of 2023; it operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million euros.[3]
Not to be confused with European Council, the Council of the European Union or the European Political Community.
Council of EuropeConseil de l'Europe
- 46 member states
- 5 Council observers
- 3 Assembly observers
5 May 1949
The organisation is distinct from the European Union (EU), although people sometimes confuse the two organisations – partly because the EU has adopted the original European flag, designed for the Council of Europe in 1955,[4] as well as the European anthem.[5] No country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe.[6] The Council of Europe is an official United Nations Observer.[7]
As an international organisation, the Council of Europe cannot make laws,[8] but it does have the ability to push for the enforcement of select international agreements reached by member states on various topics.[9] The best-known body of the Council of Europe is the European Court of Human Rights, which functions on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights of 1953.[10]
The council's two statutory bodies are the Committee of Ministers, which comprises the foreign ministers of each member state, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which is composed of members of the national parliaments of each member state.[11] The Commissioner for Human Rights is an institution within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights within the member states. The secretary general presides over the secretariat of the organisation. Other major CoE bodies include the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM)[12] and the European Audiovisual Observatory.
The headquarters of the Council of Europe, as well as its Court of Human Rights, are situated in Strasbourg, France. The Council uses English and French as its two official languages. The Committee of Ministers, the PACE, and the Congress of the Council of Europe also use German and Italian for some of their work.[13]
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."[32] 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 the European Commission and the European 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."[33] 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 the European 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).[34] The Convention created the European 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:
Characteristics[edit]
Privileges and immunities[edit]
The General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe grants the organisation certain privileges and immunities.[119]
The working conditions of staff are governed by the council's staff regulations, which are public.[120] 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.[119]