Not to be confused with European Council, the Council of the European Union or the European Political Community.
Council of Europe
Conseil de l'Europe
Flag
Logo
Headquarters
Palace of Europe, Strasbourg, France
Official languages
English, French[1]
Type
Regional intergovernmental organisation
Membership
46 member states
5 Council observers
3 Assembly observers
Leaders
• Secretary General
Marija Pejčinović Burić
• Deputy Secretary General
Bjørn Berge
• President of the Parliamentary Assembly
Theodoros Roussopoulos
• President of the Committee of Ministers
Dominique Hasler
• President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Leen Verbeek
Legislature
Parliamentary Assembly
Establishment
• Treaty of London
5 May 1949 (1949-05-05)
Website coe.int
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[update]; it operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million euros.[3]
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]
^"Did you know?". Retrieved 1 November 2022. English and French are the official languages of the Council of Europe.
^"Profile: The Council of Europe". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022.
^Council of Europe, Budget, Retrieved: 21 April 2016
^"The European flag – The Council of Europe in brief". The Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
^"The European anthem – The Council of Europe in brief". The Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 4 November 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
^"Do not get confused – The Council of Europe in brief". The Council of Europe. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
^"Intergovernmental Organizations". United Nations. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018.
^"European Commission – what it does | European Union". european-union.europa.eu. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
^"The role of the Council in international agreements". www.consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
^"The European Court of Human Rights - Council of Europe Office in Georgia - publi.coe.int". Council of Europe Office in Georgia. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
^"Structure - The Council of Europe in brief - publi.coe.int". The Council of Europe in brief. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
^"European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare – European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare – EDQM". European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
^"Headquarters and offices - The Council of Europe in brief - publi.coe.int". The Council of Europe in brief. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
founding of the CouncilofEurope, and significantly through the realisation of the European Union (EU), which represents today the majority ofEurope. The...
the European Union. The EuropeanCouncil is part of the executive of the European Union (EU), beside the European Commission. It is composed of the heads...
The Parliamentary Assembly of the CouncilofEurope (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the CouncilofEurope, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated...
The CouncilofEurope was founded on 5 May 1949 by ten western and northern European states, with Greece joining three months later, and Iceland, Turkey...
in 1955 by the CouncilofEurope (CoE) as a symbol for the whole ofEurope. Since 1985, the flag has also been a symbol of the European Union (EU), whose...
8425000; 4.3808306 The Councilof the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known...
Statute of the CouncilofEurope (also known as the Treaty of London (1949)), signed on 5 May 1949, brought into existence the CouncilofEurope, an international...
subregions ofEurope include: Two Europes Old Europe and New Europe Three Europes East-Central Europe Eastern Europe Western EuropeEurope can be divided...
languages indigenous to Europe, and most belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are...
Joy". In 1972, the CouncilofEurope adopted it as an anthem to represent Europe, and later in 1985 it was also adopted by the European Union. Its purpose...
ofEurope vary with the definition ofEurope that is used by different political organizations. For instance, the CouncilofEurope and the European Court...
The president of the EuropeanCouncil is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the EuropeanCouncil on the world stage. This institution...
"European Union" and "CouncilofEurope", at the University of Zürich, coincidentally parallel to the Hertenstein Congress of the Union ofEuropean Federalists...
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the CouncilofEurope which interprets the...
Western Europe is the western region ofEurope. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition...
views of Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region ofEurope between Eastern, Southern, Western and Northern Europe. Central Europe is known...
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Councilof the...
Europe Day is a day celebrating "peace and unity in Europe" celebrated on 5 May by the CouncilofEurope and on 9 May by the European Union. The first...
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical sub-region ofEurope, consisting primarily of the cultural region of the Balkans, as well...
Russia was a member of the CouncilofEurope, an international organization that focuses on the promotion of democracy and human rights, from 1996 to 2022...
the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions) and the EuropeanCouncil. The party's English name is "Party ofEuropean Socialists". In addition, the following...
by the EuropeanCouncil. The European Communities created additional symbols for itself in 1985, which was to become inherited by the European Union (EU)...
The Committee of Ministers of the CouncilofEurope (French: Comité des ministres du Conseil de l'Europe) or Committee of Ministers (French: Comité des...
The CouncilofEurope Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is...
languages in Europe. The CEFR was established by the CouncilofEurope between 1986 and 1989 as part of the "Language Learning for European Citizenship"...
The Secretary General of the CouncilofEurope (French: Secrétaire général du Conseil de l'Europe) is elected by the Parliamentary Assembly from a shortlist...
Global Information
