View source for Council of Europe

{{short description|International organization founded in 1949}}
{{distinguish|text=[[European Council]], the [[Council of the European Union]] or the [[European Political Community]]}}

{{use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

{{Infobox Geopolitical organization
| conventional_long_name = Council of Europe
| common_name            = CoE
| native_name            = {{lang|fr|Conseil de l'Europe}}
| image_flag             = Flag of Europe.svg
| flag_type_article      = Flag of Europe
| image_coat             = Council of Europe logo (2013 revised version).svg
| symbol_type            = Logo
| image_map              = CoE_members_2024.png
| admin_center           = [[Palace of Europe]], [[Strasbourg]], [[France]]
| admin_center_type      = Headquarters
| official_languages     = [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]]<ref>{{cite web |access-date=1 November 2022 |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/did-you-know |title=Did you know?|quote= English and French are the official languages of the Council of Europe.}}</ref>
| org_type               = [[Regional organization|Regional]] [[intergovernmental organisation]]
| membership             = {{unbulleted list |[[Member states of the Council of Europe|46 member states]] |5 Council observers |{{nowrap|3 Assembly observers}}}}
| leader_title1          = [[Secretary General of the Council of Europe|Secretary General]]
| leader_name1           = [[Alain Berset]]
| leader_title2          = Deputy Secretary General
| leader_name2           = [[Bjørn Berge (politician)|Bjørn Berge]]
| leader_title3          = President of the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe|Parliamentary Assembly]]
| leader_name3           = [[Theodoros Roussopoulos]]
| leader_title4          = President of the [[Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe|Committee of Ministers]]
| leader_name4           = [[Gabrielius Landsbergis]]
| leader_title5          = President of the [[Congress of Local and Regional Authorities]]
| leader_name5           = [[Marc Cools]]
| legislature            = [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe|Parliamentary Assembly]]
| established_event1     = [[Statute of the Council of Europe|Treaty of London]]
| established_date1      = {{start date|1949|05|05|df=dmy}}
| official_website       = {{URL|https://www.coe.int/|coe.int}}
}}

The '''Council of Europe''' ('''CoE'''; {{langx|fr|Conseil de l'Europe}}, {{lang|fr|CdE}}) is an [[international organisation]] with the goal of upholding [[human rights]], [[democracy]] and the [[Law in Europe|rule of law]] in [[Europe]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Profile: The Council of Europe |website=BBC News |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/4816408.stm |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221027082754/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/4816408.stm |archive-date=Oct 27, 2022}}</ref> Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, representing 46 member states,{{efn|Depending on varying geographic definitions, some member states or portions thereof may be considered transcontinental or Eurasian ([[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]],{{efn|Transcontinental country straddling both Europe and Asia.|name= transcontinental}} [[Cyprus]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]{{efn|name=transcontinental}} and [[Turkey]]{{efn|name=transcontinental}}), or belonging to the [[Americas]] ([[Dutch Caribbean]], [[French Guiana]], and [[Greenland]]), [[Oceania]] ([[French Polynesia]]), and [[Africa]] ([[Canary Islands]], [[Ceuta]], [[Mayotte]], [[Melilla]], and [[Réunion]])}} with a population of approximately 675 million {{as of | 2023 | lc = on}}; it operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million [[euro]]s.<ref>Council of Europe, [http://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/budget Budget], Retrieved: 21 April 2016</ref>

The organisation is distinct from the [[European Union]] (EU), although people sometimes confuse the two organisations – partly because the EU has adopted the original [[Flag of Europe|European flag]], designed for the Council of Europe in 1955,<ref>{{Cite web |title= The European flag – The Council of Europe in brief |url= https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/the-european-flag |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221220132009/https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/the-european-flag |archive-date= Dec 20, 2022 |access-date= 2022-12-30 |website= The Council of Europe |language= en-GB}}</ref> as well as the [[Anthem of Europe|European anthem]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The European anthem – The Council of Europe in brief |url= https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/the-european-anthem |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221104005120/https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/the-european-anthem |archive-date=Nov 4, 2022 |access-date=2022-12-30 |website= The Council of Europe |language= en-GB}}</ref> No country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Do not get confused – The Council of Europe in brief |url= https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/do-not-get-confused |access-date= 2022-12-30 |website= The Council of Europe |language= en-GB}}</ref> The Council of Europe is an official [[United Nations General Assembly observers|United Nations observer]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Intergovernmental Organizations |url=https://www.un.org/en/sections/member-states/intergovernmental-organizations/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202024809/https://www.un.org/en/sections/member-states/intergovernmental-organizations/index.html |archive-date=Dec 2, 2018 |website=United Nations}}</ref>

Unlike the EU, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws; however, the council has produced a number of international treaties, including the [[European Convention on Human Rights|Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR) of 1953.]] Provisions from the convention are incorporated in domestic law in many participating countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spano |first=Robert |date=19 May 2018 |title=The Future of the European Court of Human Rights—Subsidiarity, Process-Based Review and the Rule of Law |url=https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article/18/3/473/4999870 |journal=Human Rights Law Review |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=473–494 |doi=10.1093/hrlr/ngy015}}</ref> The best-known body of the Council of Europe is the [[European Court of Human Rights]], which rules on alleged violations of the ECHR.<ref>{{Cite web |title= The European Court of Human Rights – Council of Europe Office in Georgia – publi.coe.int |url= https://www.coe.int/en/web/tbilisi/europeancourtofhumanrights |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Council of Europe Office in Georgia |language=en-GB}}</ref> 

The council's two statutory bodies are the [[Committee of Ministers]], which comprises the [[foreign minister]]s 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Structure – The Council of Europe in brief – publi.coe.int |url= https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/structure |access-date= 2023-02-12 |website= The Council of Europe in brief |language= en-GB}}</ref> 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 of the Council of Europe|secretary general]] presides over the secretariat of the organisation. Other major CoE bodies include the [[European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines|European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare]] (EDQM)<ref>{{Cite web |title= European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare – European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare – EDQM |url=https://www.edqm.eu/en/ |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare |language=en-GB}}</ref> 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 language|English]] and [[French language|French]] as its two [[official language]]s. The Committee of Ministers, the PACE, and the [[Congress of the Council of Europe]] also use [[German language|German]] and [[Italian language|Italian]] for some of their work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Headquarters and offices – The Council of Europe in brief – publi.coe.int |url= https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/headquarters-and-offices |access-date= 2023-02-12 |website= The Council of Europe in brief |language=en-GB}}
</ref>

== History ==

[[File:Palais Universitaire de Strasbourg-10 août 1949.jpg|thumb|upright|Plaque commemorating the first session of the Council of Europe Assembly at [[Palais Universitaire, Strasbourg|Strasbourg University]]]]

=== Founding ===

In a speech in 1929, French Foreign Minister [[Aristide Briand]] floated the idea of an organisation which would gather European nations together in a "federal union" to resolve common problems.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fresques.ina.fr/jalons/fiche-media/InaEdu02042/discours-d-aristide-briand-devant-la-sdn-du-7-septembre-1929-audio.html |title=Lumni &#124; Enseignement – Discours d'Aristide Briand devant la SDN du 7 septembre 1929 |publisher=Fresques.ina.fr |trans-title=Lumni &#124; Teaching – Speech by Aristide Briand to the SDN on September 7, 1929 |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> The United Kingdom's wartime Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] first publicly suggested the creation of a "Council of Europe" in a BBC radio broadcast on 21 March 1943,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1941-1945-war-leader/national-address/|title=National Address|date=21 March 1943|website=International Churchill Society |author1=Pixelstorm }}</ref> while the Second World War was still raging. In his own words,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1943/1943-03-21a.html| title = Post-War Councils on World Problems: A FOUR YEAR PLAN FOR ENGLAND by WINSTON CHURCHILL, Prime Minister of Great Britain, broadcast from London over BBC, March 21, 1943}}</ref> 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 the [[University of Zurich]] on 19 September 1946,<ref name="COE_Churchill">{{cite web |url=http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/Archives/Selection/Churchill/Default_en.asp |title=Winston Churchill and the Council of Europe |work=Council of Europe: Archiving and Documentary Resources |publisher=Council of Europe |date=6 April 2009 |access-date=18 November 2013}}, including audio extracts</ref><ref name="ENA_Churchill">{{cite web|title=European Navigator (ENA)|url=http://www.ena.lu/the_zurich_speech-020100043.html|access-date=4 April 2011|archive-date=7 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607160506/http://www.ena.lu/the_zurich_speech-020100043.html|url-status=dead}} Including full transcript</ref> 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 the [[European Movement International|European 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 the [[Eastern Bloc]]. Others again saw it as a nascent "United States of Europe", the resonant phrase that Churchill had reached for at Zurich in 1946.

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F023908-0002, Straßburg, Tagung des Europarates.jpg|thumb|left|Session of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in the former [[Palace of Europe|House of Europe]] in Strasbourg in 1967. [[Willy Brandt]], [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany)|German Minister for Foreign Affairs]], is speaking.]]

The future structure of the Council of Europe was discussed at the [[Congress of Europe]], which brought together several hundred leading politicians, government representatives and members of civil society in [[The Hague]], [[Netherlands]], in 1948.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=History – Language policy – publi.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/language-policy/history |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Language policy |language=en-GB}}</ref> Responding to the conclusions of the Congress of Europe, the Consultative Council of the [[Treaty 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robertson |first=A. H. |date=1954 |title=The Council of Europe, 1949–1953: II |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/755483 |journal=The International and Comparative Law Quarterly |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=404–420 |doi=10.1093/iclqaj/3.3.404 |jstor=755483 |issn=0020-5893}}</ref>

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 the [[European Communities]], [[NATO]] and [[OSCE]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=NATO |title=Relations with the OSCE |url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49911.htm |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=NATO |language=en}}</ref>

The Council of Europe was signed into existence on 5 May 1949 by the [[Treaty of London (1949)|Treaty 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Council of Europe |url=https://training.itcilo.org/actrav_cdrom1/english/global/law/coeint.htm |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=training.itcilo.org}}</ref> It was signed in London on that day by ten states: [[Belgium]], [[Denmark]], [[France]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Italy]], [[Luxembourg]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Norway]], [[Sweden]] and the [[United Kingdom]], though [[Turkey]] and [[Greece]] 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, the [[European Union]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parliamentary Assembly – No Hate Speech Youth Campaign – publi.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/no-hate-campaign/parliamentary-assembly1 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=No Hate Speech Youth Campaign |language=en-GB}}</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite web|author=Spaak |url=http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/Speeches/Speech-XML2HTML-EN.asp?SpeechID=271 |title=Speeches made to the Parliamentary Assembly (1949–2018) |publisher=Assembly.coe.int |date=1951-12-11 |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> Convinced that the Council of Europe was never going to be in a position to achieve his long-term goal of a unified Europe,<ref>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.</ref> he soon tried again in a new and more promising format, based this time on economic integration, becoming one of the founders of the [[European Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://europa.eu/european-union/sites/europaeu/files/docs/body/paul-henri_spaak_en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924214047/https://europa.eu/european-union/sites/europaeu/files/docs/body/paul-henri_spaak_en.pdf |archive-date=2016-09-24 |url-status=live|title=European Commission: Paul–Henri Spaak: a European visionary and talented persuader}}</ref>

=== Early years ===

There was huge enthusiasm for the Council of Europe in its early years, as its pioneers set about drafting what was to become the [[European 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 the [[Universal 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 the [[European 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 welcome [[West Germany]] into its fold on 2 May 1951,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/accession_of_germany_to_the_council_of_europe_strasbourg_2_may_1951-en-24be5b53-aefd-4ac1-a21c-c8e514bd1a9f.html |title=Accession of Germany to the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 2 May 1951) – CVCE Website |publisher=Cvce.eu |date=1951-05-02 |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|author=The Council of Europe in brief |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/our-member-states |title=Our member States |publisher=Coe.int |date=1949-05-05 |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> Iceland had already joined in 1950, followed in 1956 by Austria, Cyprus in 1961, Switzerland in 1963 and Malta in 1965.

=== Historic speeches at the Council of Europe ===

[[File:Churchill Tha Hague 1948.jpg|thumb|[[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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/Speeches/Speech-By-Country-EN.asp |title=Speeches made to the Parliamentary Assembly (by Country) |publisher=Assembly.coe.int |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> At the time of its launch,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/News/News-View-en.asp?newsid=7112&lang=2 |title=All speeches by heads of state and government to PACE since 1949 online |publisher=Assembly.coe.int |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> 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.

Some very early speeches by individuals considered to be "founding figures" of the European institutions, even if they were not heads of state or government at the time, are also included (such as Sir [[Winston Churchill]] or [[Robert Schuman]]). Addresses by eight monarchs appear in the list (such as King [[Juan Carlos I of Spain]], King [[Albert II of Belgium]] and Grand Duke [[Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg|Henri of Luxembourg]]) as well as the speeches given by religious figures (such as [[Pope John Paul II]], and [[Pope Francis]]) and several leaders from countries in the Middle East and North Africa (such as [[Shimon Peres]], [[Yasser Arafat]], [[Hosni Mubarak]], [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]] or King [[Hussein of Jordan]]).

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/Speeches/Speech-By-Country-FR.asp |title=Discours prononcés devant l'Assemblée parlementaire (1949–2018) – par pays |trans-title=Speeches delivered to the Parliamentary Assembly (1949–2018) – by country |publisher=Assembly.coe.int |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref>

== Aims and achievement ==

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."<ref>{{cite web|title=Statute of the Council of Europe|url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/001.htm|website=conventions.coe.int|access-date=19 December 2014}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/european-union|title=The Council of Europe and the European Union|website=The Council of Europe |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240119094000/https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/european-union |archive-date= Jan 19, 2024 }}</ref> 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).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights|website=United Nations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230060556/https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ |archive-date= Dec 30, 2020 }}</ref> 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:

* Protection of the [[rule of law]] and fostering legal co-operation through some 200 conventions and other treaties,<ref name="auto"/> including such leading instruments as the [[Convention on Cybercrime]], the [[Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism|Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism]], Conventions against Corruption and Organised Crime,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/173|title=Full list (Details of Treaty No.173)|website=The Council of Europe Treaty Office |access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/198|title=Details of Treaty No.198: Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism|website=Treaty Office|publisher = Council of Europe |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201227194322/https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/198 |archive-date= Dec 27, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/search-on-treaties/-/conventions/treaty/174|title=Details of Treaty No.174: Civil Law Convention on Corruption|website=Treaty Office|publisher = Council of Europe |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105072336/https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/search-on-treaties/-/conventions/treaty/174 |archive-date= Jan 5, 2021 }}</ref> the [[Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings]], and the [[Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine|Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list|title=Full list|website=The Council of Europe Treaty Office |access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref>
* [[CODEXTER]], designed to co-ordinate counter-terrorism measures
* [[The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ)]]
* Protection of [[human rights]], notably through:
** the [[European Convention on Human Rights]]
** the [[European Committee for the Prevention of Torture]]
** the [[European Commission against Racism and Intolerance]]
** the [[Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg2/trafficking/campaign/Source/PDF_Conv_197_Trafficking_E.pdf|title=Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and its Explanatory Report |publisher=Council of Europe |date=May 16, 2005 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528112349/http://www.coe.int/t/dg2/trafficking/campaign/Source/PDF_Conv_197_Trafficking_E.pdf|archive-date=28 May 2008}}</ref>
** the [[Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data]]
** the [[Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse]]<ref name="auto"/>
** The [[Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/210|title=Details of Treaty No.210: Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence|website=Treaty Office|publisher = Council of Europe}}</ref>
** social rights under the [[European Social Charter]]
** [[European Charter of Local Self-Government]] guaranteeing the political, administrative and financial independence of [[Local government|local authorities]].
** linguistic rights under the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]]
** minority rights under the [[Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities]]
** [[Freedom of the press|Media freedom]] under Article&nbsp;10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the [[European Convention on Transfrontier Television]]
* Protection of [[democracy]] through parliamentary scrutiny and [[election monitoring]] by its Parliamentary Assembly as well as assistance in democratic reforms, in particular by the [[Venice Commission]].
* Promotion of cultural cooperation and diversity under the Council of Europe's [[European Cultural Convention|Cultural Convention]] of 1954 and several conventions on the protection of cultural heritage as well as through its Centre for Modern Languages in [[Graz]], [[Austria]], and its [[North-South Centre]] in [[Lisbon]], [[Portugal]].
* Promotion of the right to education under Article&nbsp;2 of the first Protocol to the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] and several conventions on the recognition of university studies and diplomas (see also [[Bologna Process]] and [[Lisbon Recognition Convention]]).
* Promotion of fair sport through the [[World Anti-Doping Agency#Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention|Anti-Doping Convention]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=135&CM=7&DF=5/21/2008&CL=ENG|title=Details of Treaty No.135: Anti-Doping Convention|website = Treaty Office|publisher = Council of Europe}}</ref>
* Promotion of European youth exchanges and cooperation through European Youth Centres in [[Strasbourg]] and [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]].
* Promotion of the quality of medicines throughout Europe by the [[European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]] and its [[European Pharmacopoeia]].
{{Anchor|ICC}}
*Support for intercultural integration through the Intercultural Cities (ICC) program. This program offers information and advice for local authorities on the integration of minorities and the prevention of discrimination.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019|title=2019 ICC Brochure|url=https://rm.coe.int/brochure-2019-on-the-intercultural-cities-programme/1680488e90 |access-date=25 March 2021|website=Council of Europe}}</ref>

== Institutions ==
{{Politics of the Council of Europe}}
The institutions of the Council of Europe are:

* The [[Secretary General of the Council of Europe|Secretary 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.regjeringen.no/en/the-government/previous-governments/historiske-artikler/offices/prime-minister-since-1814/thorbjorn-jagland/id463465/|title=Thorbjørn Jagland|last=regjeringen.no|date=2014-06-25|website=Government.no|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-09-19}}</ref> In June 2014, he became the first Secretary General to be re-elected, commencing his second term in office on 1 October 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/jagland-re-elected-head-of-council-of-europe/ |first1=Andrew |last1=Gardner |title=Jagland re-elected head of Council of Europe|date=2014-06-25|work=POLITICO|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en-US}}</ref>
* The [[Council of Europe Committee of Ministers|Committee of Ministers]], comprising the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of all 46 member states who are represented by their [[Ministers Deputies|Permanent Representatives and Ambassadors]] accredited to the Council of Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History, Role, and Activities of the Council of Europe: Facts, Figures and Information Sources |url=https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Council_of_Europe.html |first1=Sophie |last1=Lobey |date=April 2005 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=GlobaLex }}</ref> Committee of Ministers' presidencies are held in alphabetical order for six months following the English alphabet: [[Turkey]] 11/2010-05/2011, [[Ukraine]] 05/2011-11/2011, the [[United Kingdom]] 11/2011-05/2012, [[Albania]] 05/2012-11/2012, [[Andorra]] 11/2012-05/2013, [[Armenia]] 05/2013-11/2013, [[Austria]] 11/2013-05/2014, and so on.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/cm/cm-chairmanship|title=Chairmanship|website=Committee of Ministers|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-12-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213201014/https://www.coe.int/en/web/cm/cm-chairmanship |archive-date= 2017-12-13 }}</ref>
[[File:Plenary chamber of the Council of Europe's Palace of Europe 2014 01.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|Council's [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe|Parliamentary Assembly]] hemicycle]]
* The [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] (PACE), which comprises national parliamentarians from all member states.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://website-pace.net/en_GB/web/apce/how-it-works|title=How it works|website=PACE |language=en-GB|access-date=2018-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919171921/http://website-pace.net/en_GB/web/apce/how-it-works|archive-date=19 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Adopting resolutions and recommendations to governments, the Assembly holds a dialogue with its governmental counterpart, the [[Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe|Committee 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 MP [[Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe]] was rapporteur for the drafting of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The establishment of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights – The first organisations and cooperative ventures in post-war Europe |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/education/unit-content/-/unit/026961fe-0d57-4314-a40a-a4ac066a1801/e5143a50-1a43-4a26-8ffd-7a5aaa12ecf7 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=CVCE }}</ref> [[Dick Marty]]'s reports on secret [[CIA]] 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 in [[Chechnya]], identifying who was responsible for disappeared persons in [[Belarus]], chronicling threats to freedom of expression in the media and many other subjects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alleged secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers of detainees involving Council of Europe member states |date=12 June 2006 |url=https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=11527&lang=en |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=PACE }}</ref>
* The [[Congress 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 the [[European Charter of Local Self-Government]] of 1985 and the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities of 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/congress/overview|title=A European Assembly of local and regional elected representatives |website=Congress of Local and Regional Authorities |publisher=Council of Europe |language=en-GB|access-date=2017-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/congress/origins-and-history|title=Origins and history |website=Congress of Local and Regional Authorities |publisher=Council of Europe |language=en-GB|access-date=2017-12-13}}</ref>
* The [[European Court of Human Rights]], created under the [[European 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-07-10 |title=European Court of Human Rights |url=https://ijrcenter.org/european-court-of-human-rights/ |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=International Justice Resource Center |language=en-US}}</ref> The current president of the court is Guido Raimondi from Italy. Under the recent Protocol No. 14 to the [[European 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/194/signatures|title=Full list (Chart of signatures and ratifications of Treaty 194)|website=Treaty Office|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-09-19}}</ref>
* The [[Commissioner 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 by [[Michael O'Flaherty]] from Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/the-commissioner/michael-o-flahertyCommissioner for Human Rights|website=Commissioner for Human Rights|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref>
* The Conference of INGOs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/T/NGO/default_en.asp |title=Home |publisher=Coe.int |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> NGOs can participate in the [[INGOs 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".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://rm.coe.int/16806ecbd2 |title=A word from the President on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe |work=rm.coe.int |access-date= |archive-date=13 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213204412/https://rm.coe.int/16806ecbd2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The Joint Council on Youth of the Council of Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/about-us |title=About us |publisher=Coe.int |date=2011-02-14 |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> The European Steering Committee (CDEJ) on Youth and the [[Advisory 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=European Steering Committee for Youth – Youth – publi.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/cdej |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Youth |language=en-GB}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About us – Youth – publi.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/about-us |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Youth |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* Information Offices of the Council of Europe in many member states.

[[File:EU-FR-AL-67@Strasbourg-Pharmacopée européenne 01.jpg|thumb|[[European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]].]]

===Partial Agreements===

The CoE system also includes a number of semi-autonomous structures known as "[[Partial Agreement]]s", some of which are also open to non-member states:

* The [[Council of Europe Development Bank]] in [[Paris]]
* The [[European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines]] with its [[European Pharmacopoeia]]
* The [[European Audiovisual Observatory]]
* The European Support Fund ''[[Eurimages]]'' for the co-production and distribution of films.<ref>{{Cite web |last=s.r.o |first=Appio Digital |title=Eurimages – co-production, distribution and exhibition support {{!}} DOKweb |url=https://dokweb.net/database/organizations/about/5b527769-c340-448a-ba00-6cd460fb41a6/eurimages-co-production-distribution-and-exhibition-support |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=dokweb.net |language=en}}</ref>
* 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)
* The [[Pompidou Group]] – Cooperation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home – Pompidou Group – publi.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/pompidou |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Pompidou Group |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the [[Venice Commission]]
* The [[Group of States Against Corruption]] (GRECO)
* The European and Mediterranean [[EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement|Major 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement – European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement – publi.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/europarisks |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, which is open to accession by states and sports associations.<ref>{{cite web|title = Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport |publisher=Council of Europe|url=http://www.coe.int/t/DG4/EPAS/default_en.asp}}</ref>
* The [[North-South Centre]] of the Council of Europe in [[Lisbon]] (Portugal)
* The Centre for Modern Languages is in [[Graz]] (Austria)
* The [[Register of Damage for Ukraine]], a register for Ukrainians to seek compensation for damages from the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]].

=== Summits ===
Occasionally the Council of Europe organizes 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.<ref name=abc20230516>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/council-europe-summit-iceland-seeks-hold-russia-account-99365310 |title=Council of Europe summit in Iceland seeks to hold Russia to account for waging war in Ukraine |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=16 May 2023 |access-date=17 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/cm/summits | title=Summits of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe – Committee of Ministers – www.coe.int }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/fourth-council-of-europe-summit | title=Fourth Council of Europe summit – Portal – www.coe.int }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Overview of Council of Europe summits
|-
!scope="col"| Date
!scope="col"| Host country
!scope="col"| Host city 
|-
|scope="row"| 8–9 October 1993
| {{AUT}} || [[Vienna]] 
|-
|scope="row"| 10–11 October 1997
| {{FRA}} || [[Strasbourg]] 
|-
|scope="row"| 16–17 May 2005
| {{POL}} || [[Warsaw]]
|-
|scope="row"| 16–17 May 2023
| {{ISL}} ||  [[Reykjavík]]
|}

=== Headquarters and buildings ===

{{See also|European Institutions in Strasbourg}}
[[File:Council of Europe Palais de l'Europe aerial view.JPG|thumb|Aerial shot of the [[Palace of Europe|Palais de l'Europe]] in Strasbourg]]
[[File:Council of Europe Agora building in Strasbourg.JPG|thumb|Council of Europe's Agora building]]
The seat of the Council of Europe is in [[Strasbourg]], France. First meetings were held in Strasbourg's [[University of Strasbourg|University]] Palace in 1949,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robertson |first=A. H. |date=1954 |title=The Council of Europe, 1949–1953: I |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/755535 |journal=The International and Comparative Law Quarterly |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=235–255 |doi=10.1093/iclqaj/3.2.235 |jstor=755535 |issn=0020-5893}}</ref> but the Council of Europe soon moved into its own buildings. The Council of Europe's eight main buildings are situated in the ''Quartier 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 the [[seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg]], the [[Arte]] headquarters and the seat of the [[International Institute of Human Rights]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=McManus |first=David |date=2008-09-17 |title=New General Building of Council of Europe |url=https://www.e-architect.com/france/nbgen-strasbourg |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=e-architect |language=en-gb}}</ref>

Building in the area started in 1949 with the predecessor of the Palais 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.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.coe.int/t/DC/Press/Source/PressFile_%20AGORA_fr.pdf |date=30 January 2008 |language=fr |title=Inauguration of the Agora Building |publisher=Council of Europe |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528112354/http://www.coe.int/t/DC/Press/Source/PressFile_%20AGORA_fr.pdf |archive-date=28 May 2008 }}</ref> The Palais de l'Europe ([[Palace of Europe]]) and the [[Art Nouveau]] Villa Schutzenberger (seat of the [[European Audiovisual Observatory]]) are in the Orangerie district, and the [[European 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mipim.com/App/homepage.cfm?appname=100517&moduleid=288&campaignid=11888&iUserCampaignID=43827991|title=2008 List of MIPIM winners}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> 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, the [[North-South Centre]] of the Council of Europe is established in [[Lisbon]], [[Portugal]], and the Centre for Modern Languages is in [[Graz]], [[Austria]]. There are [[European Youth Centres]] in [[Budapest]], [[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 in [[Oslo]], [[Norway]], in February 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title =European Wergeland Centre |url =http://www.theewc.org/about-the-ewc.html |url-status =dead |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090418213025/http://www.theewc.org/about-the-ewc.html |archive-date =18 April 2009}}</ref>

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, and [[Council of Europe Office (Armenia)|Yerevan]]. 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.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |title=List of external offices |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/programmes/external-offices |access-date=2022-10-21 |website=Office of the Directorate General of Programmes |language=en-GB}}</ref>

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 the [[OSCE]], 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)<ref name="auto1"/>

== Member states, observers, partners ==

{{Main|Member states of the Council of Europe}}

=== Eligibility ===

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 accept [[democracy|democratic]] 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").<ref>{{cite web |title=Statute of the Council of Europe, London, 5.V.1949|url=https://rm.coe.int/1680935bd0|publisher=Council of Europe}}</ref><ref name=Klebes>{{cite web |url=https://www.supremecourt.ge/files/upload-file/pdf/coelaweng.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://www.supremecourt.ge/files/upload-file/pdf/coelaweng.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live |title=Council of Europe law: Towards a pan-European legal area |last1=Benoît-Rohmer |first1=Florence |author1-link=Florence Benoît-Rohmer |last2=Klebes |first2=Heinrich |date=June 2005 |publisher=Council of Europe}}</ref>

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 a [[transcontinental state]] that lies mostly in Asia, with a smaller portion in Europe.<ref name=Klebes/> 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 to [[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]].<ref name=Klebes/>

=== Member states and observers ===
[[File:Albanian CoE stamp.jpg|thumb|Postage stamp marks Albania as a member of the Council of Europe 1995]]
The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by [[Belgium]], [[Denmark]], [[France]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Italy]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Netherlands]], [[Norway]], [[Sweden]] and the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Statute of the Council of Europe is signed in London |url=https://70.coe.int/1949-statute-of-the-council-of-europe-is-signed-in-london-en.html |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019 |quote=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.}}</ref> [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] joined three months later.<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey joins |url=https://70.coe.int/-/1950-turkey-joins |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey – Member state |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/turkey |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey |url=https://70.coe.int/-/1949-greece-joins |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019}} and [[Greece]]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Greece – Member state |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/greece |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019 |quote=Greece and Turkey became the 11th and 12th member State of the Council of Europe on 9 August 1949.}}</ref> [[Iceland]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Iceland joins |url=https://70.coe.int/-/1950-iceland-joins |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Iceland – Member state |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/iceland |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=23 June 2019 |quote=Iceland became the 13th member State of the Council of Europe on 7 March 1950.}}</ref> [[West Germany]] and [[Saar Protectorate]] joined the Council of Europe as associate members in 1950. West Germany became a full member in 1951, and the Saar withdrew its application after it joined West Germany following the [[1955 Saar Statute referendum]].<ref>{{cite web |title=13 July 1950: Federal Republic of Germany joins the Council of Europe|url=https://70.coe.int/1950-federal-republic-of-germany-joins-the-council-of-europe-en.html|publisher=Council of Europe}}</ref><ref>Lansing Warren (3 May 1951), [https://www.nytimes.com/1951/05/03/archives/council-of-europe-raises-bonn-to-the-status-of-a-full-member-bonn.html "Council of Europe Raises Bonn To the Status of a Full Member"], ''The New York Times''.</ref> Joining later were [[Austria]] (1956), [[Cyprus]] (1961), [[Switzerland]] (1963), [[Malta]] (1965), and [[Portugal]] (1976).<ref name=Klebes/> [[Spain]] joined in 1977, two years after the death of its dictator [[Francisco Franco]] and the [[Spanish transition to democracy]].<ref>Carlos Lopez (2010), [https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/2010/4/28/67511746-0b1f-47e6-8762-03a336d23bd0/publishable_en.pdf "Franco's Spain and the Council of Europe"], {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311164338/https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/2010/4/28/67511746-0b1f-47e6-8762-03a336d23bd0/publishable_en.pdf |date=11 March 2021 }}, [[Centre virtuel de la connaissance sur l'Europe]].</ref> Next to join were [[Liechtenstein]] (1978), [[San Marino]] (1988) and [[Finland]] (1989).<ref name=Klebes/> After the fall of Communism with the [[Revolutions of 1989]] and the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]], the following countries in Europe joined: [[Hungary]] (1990), [[Poland]] (1991), [[Bulgaria]] (1992), [[Estonia]] (1993), [[Lithuania]] (1993), [[Slovenia]] (1993), the [[Czech Republic]] (1993), [[Slovakia]] (1993), [[Romania]] (1993), [[Andorra]] (1994), [[Latvia]] (1995), [[Moldova]] (1995), [[Albania]] (1995), [[Ukraine]] (1995), the [[former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia]] (1995) (later renamed [[North Macedonia]]), [[Russia]] (1996, expelled 2022), [[Croatia]] (1996), [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] (1999), [[Armenia]] (2001), [[Azerbaijan]] (2001), [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (2002), [[Serbia and Montenegro]] (later [[Serbia]]) (2003) and [[Monaco]] (2004).<ref name=Klebes/> The council now has 46 member states, with [[Montenegro]] (2007) being the latest to join.<ref name=MemberStates>[https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/46-members-states 46 "Member States"], Council of Europe.</ref>

Although most Council members are predominantly Christian in heritage, there are four Muslim-majority member states: Bosnia and Herzegovina,<ref name=Popis2013>{{cite web|title=Census of population, households and dwellings in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2013: Final results|url=http://www.popis2013.ba/popis2013/doc/Popis2013prvoIzdanje.pdf|publisher=Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina|date=June 2016|accessdate=1 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224103940/http://www.popis2013.ba/popis2013/doc/Popis2013prvoIzdanje.pdf|archive-date=24 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Turkey, Albania, and Azerbaijan.<ref name=Klebes/>

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'' and ''observer''.<ref name=Klebes/> 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.<ref name=Klebes/> "Special guest" status was used as a transitional status for [[post-Soviet countries]] that wished to join the council after the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] and is no longer commonly used.<ref name=Klebes/> "Observer" status is for non-European nations who accept democracy, rule of law, and human rights, and wish to participate in Council initiatives.<ref name=Klebes/> The [[United States]] became an observer state in 1995.<ref>[https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/united-states "United States // Observer"], Council of Europe.</ref> Currently, [[Canada]], the [[Holy See]], [[Japan]], [[Mexico]], and the [[United States]] are observer states, while [[Israel]] is an observer to the PACE.<ref name=MemberStates/> Additionally [[Kosovo]] is a member of the [[Council of Europe Development Bank]] and a [[Member states of the Venice Commission|member]] of the Council of Europe's [[Venice Commission]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/events/?country=243 | title=Venice Commission :: Council of Europe}}</ref> The [[Assembly of Kosovo]] was invited to take part in the work of the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] and its committees as an observer in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Assembly of Kosovo* |url=https://pace.coe.int/en/aplist/countries/65/assembly-of-kosovo- |access-date=16 Oct 2022 |website=PACE |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011210114/https://pace.coe.int/en/aplist/countries/65/assembly-of-kosovo- |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2016 |title=The situation in Kosovo* and the role of the Council of Europe |url=http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=22499&lang=en |access-date=16 Oct 2022 |website=PACE website |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014130615/http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=22499&lang=en |url-status=live}}</ref> Two representatives of local government in Kosovo participate in the work of the [[Congress of Local and Regional Authorities]] as observers.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://komunat-ks.net/archives/5132?lang=sq | title=DELEGACIONI I ASOCIACIONIT TË KOMUNAVE PO PËRFAQËSON KOSOVËN NË PUNIMET e KONGRESIT TË KËSHILLIT TË EVROPËS – Asociacioni i Komunave të Kosovës }}</ref>

=== Withdrawal, suspension, and expulsion ===

{{Further|Withdrawal from the Council of Europe}}

The [[Statute of the Council of Europe]] provides for the voluntary suspension, involuntary suspension, and exclusion of members.<ref name=DzehtsiarouCoffey>Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou & Donal K. Coffey, [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-and-comparative-law-quarterly/article/suspension-and-expulsion-of-members-of-the-council-of-europe-difficult-decisions-in-troubled-times/0CA9AC93A5722D91BECC4391D93B654E Suspension and expulsion of members of the Council of Europe: difficult decisions in troubled times], ''International & Comparative Law Quarterly'', Vol. 68, Issue 2 (2019).</ref> 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.<ref name=DzehtsiarouCoffey/> 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.<ref name=DzehtsiarouCoffey/>

The Council suspended Greece in 1967, after a [[Greek junta|military coup d'état]], and the [[Greek junta]] withdrew from the CoE.<ref name=DzehtsiarouCoffey/> Greece was readmitted to the council in 1974.<ref>Vasilopoulou, Sofia. (2018) [https://journals.openedition.org/cdlm/7858 The party politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis: The case of Greece]. ''Politics'', 38. DOI: 10.1177/0263395718770599.</ref>

==== Suspension and exclusion of Russia ====

{{Main|Russia in the Council of Europe}}
[[Russia]] became a member of the Council of Europe in 1996. In 2014, after Russia [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexed Crimea from Ukraine]] and [[Russian separatist forces in Donbas|supported separatists in eastern Ukraine]], the Council stripped Russia of its voting rights in the PACE.<ref name=Erlanger>Steven Erlanger, [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/world/europe/council-of-europe-russia-crimea.html Council of Europe Restores Russia's Voting Rights], ''New York Times'' (June 25, 2019).</ref> 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<ref name=Erlanger/><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-cancels-council-of-europe-payment-members-persecuted-a7816951.html Russia cancels payment to Council of Europe after claiming its delegates are being persecuted over Crimea], ''The Independent''. 30 June 2017</ref> placing the institution under financial strain.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/russia-withholds-payments-to-the-council-of-europe/a-42792673|title=Russia withholds payments to the Council of Europe|website=Deutsche Welle|language=en|access-date=2018-09-19}}</ref>

Russia stated that its suspension by the council was unfair, and demanded the restoration of its voting rights.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/3cccaf92-d12c-11e7-b781-794ce08b24dc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/3cccaf92-d12c-11e7-b781-794ce08b24dc |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Russia tests Council of Europe in push to regain vote|last=Buckley|first=Neil|date=26 November 2017|website=Financial Times}}</ref> Russia had threatened to withdraw from the Council unless its voting rights were restored in time for the election of a new secretary general.<ref name=Erlanger/> European Council secretary-general [[Thorbjørn Jagland]] organized 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.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://eu.boell.org/en/2018/02/21/classic-dilemma-russias-threat-withdraw-council-europe|title=A Classic Dilemma: Russia's Threat to Withdraw from the Council of Europe|work=Heinrich Böll Stiftung European Union|access-date=2018-09-19|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Erlanger/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/council-of-europe-restores-russias-voting-rights/|title=Council of Europe restores Russia's voting rights|last=Weise|first=Zia|date=2019-05-17|website=POLITICO|access-date=2019-05-18}}</ref> Opponents of lifting the suspension included Ukraine and other [[post-Soviet countries]], such as the [[Baltic state]]s, who argued that readmission amounted to normalizing Russia's malign activity.<ref name=Erlanger/> Supporters of restoring Russia's council rights included France and Germany,<ref name=Suspends2022>Steven Erlanger, [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/world/europe/council-of-europe-russia-suspension.html The Council of Europe suspends Russia for its attack on Ukraine.], ''New York Times'' (March 3, 2022).</ref> 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 the [[European Court of Human Rights]].<ref name=Erlanger/>

On 3 March 2022, after [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine]], the council suspended Russia for violations of the council's statute and the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] (ECHR). The suspension blocked Russia from participation in the council's ministerial council, the PACE, and the [[Council of the Baltic Sea States]], but still left Russia obligated to follow the ECHR.<ref name=Suspends2022/><ref name=Mehta>Pooja Mehta, [https://www.jurist.org/news/2022/03/russia-withdraws-from-council-of-europe/ Russia withdraws from Council of Europe], ''JURIST'' (March 12, 2022).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/council-of-europe-suspends-russia-s-rights-of-representation|title=Council of Europe suspends Russia's rights of representation|date=2022-02-25|website=COE|access-date=2022-02-25}}</ref> 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 to [[Denunciation (international law)|denounce]] 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.<ref name="CoE_Expulsion_RU">{{cite press release |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/the-russian-federation-is-excluded-from-the-council-of-europe |title=The Russian Federation is excluded from the Council of Europe |publisher=Council of Europe|date=16 March 2022}}</ref> After being excluded from the Council of Europe, Russia's former president and prime minister [[Dmitry Medvedev]] endorsed restoring the [[Capital punishment in Russia|death penalty in Russia]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 March 2022 |title=Russia Quits Europe's Rule of Law Body, Sparking Questions Over Death Penalty |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/10/russia-quits-europes-rule-of-law-body-sparking-questions-over-death-penalty-a76854 |access-date=14 March 2022 |newspaper=[[The Moscow Times]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dmitry Medvedev vows to reintroduce death penalty |last=Nilsen |first=Thomas |url=https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2022/02/dmitry-medvedev-calls-russia-reintroduce-death-penalty |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=The Independent Barents Observer |date=26 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

== Co-operation ==

===Conventions: European Treaty Series===
{{main|List of Council of Europe treaties}}
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 the [[List of Council of Europe treaties|European Treaty Series]].

=== Non-member states ===
Several conventions have also been opened for signature to non-member states. Important examples are the [[Convention on Cybercrime]] (signed for example, by Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States), the [[Lisbon Recognition Convention]] on the recognition of study periods and degrees (signed for example, by Australia, Belarus, Canada, the [[Holy See]], Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, New Zealand and the United States), the Anti-[[Doping (sport)|doping]] Convention (signed, for example, by Australia, Belarus, Canada and Tunisia) and the [[Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats]] (signed for example, by Burkina Faso, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal as well as the [[European Community]]). Non-member states also participate in several partial agreements, such as the [[Venice Commission]], the [[Group of States Against Corruption]] (GRECO), the [[European Pharmacopoeia]] Commission and the [[North-South Centre]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Full list – Treaty Office – publi.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Treaty Office |language=en-GB}}</ref>

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:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheNonMembres.asp?CM=14&CL=ENG |title=CoE Conventions |publisher=Conventions.coe.int |date=31 December 1998 |access-date=2012-02-11 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807043957/http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheNonMembres.asp?CM=14&CL=ENG |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 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.
* The European Community and later the [[European Union]] after its [[legal personality]] was established by the ratification of the EU's [[Lisbon Treaty]].

=== European Union ===

{{main|Council of Europe–European Union relations}}
{{Supranational European Bodies|size=400px|align=right}}
The Council of Europe is not to be confused with the [[Council of the European Union]] (the "Council of Ministers") or the [[European Council]]. These belong to the [[European Union]], which is separate from the Council of Europe, although they have shared the same European flag and anthem since the 1980s since they both work for [[European integration]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Council of Europe and the European Union – Portal – publi.coe.int |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/european-union |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=Portal |language=en-GB}}</ref> Nor is the Council of Europe to be confused with the European Union itself.

The Council of Europe is an entirely separate body<ref name="COE_not_EU">{{cite web |url = http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-bodies/council-eu/index_en.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625020618/http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-bodies/council-eu/index_en.htm |archive-date=25 June 2013 |url-status=live |title=Council of the European Union |publisher=[[European Union]] |access-date=2022-10-26}}{{cbignore}}</ref> from the European Union. It is not controlled by it.

Cooperation between the [[European 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.<ref>{{cite web|title = The Council of Europe and the European Union sign an agreement to foster mutual cooperation|date=23 May 2007|url=https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=PR331(2007)&Language=lanEnglish&Ver=original&BackColorInternet=F5CA75&BackColorIntranet=F5CA75&BackColorLogged=A9BACE&ShowBanner=no&Target=_self|publisher=Council of Europe|access-date = 5 August 2008}}</ref>

The European Union is expected to accede to the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] (the convention). There are also concerns about consistency in case law – the [[European Court of Justice]] (the EU's court in [[Luxembourg]]) is treating the convention as part of the legal system of all [[Member state of the European Union|EU member states]] in order to prevent conflict between its judgements and those of the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (the court in [[Strasbourg]] interpreting the convention). Protocol No. 14 of the convention is designed to allow the EU to accede to it and the EU [[Treaty 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.<ref name="Juncker Council">{{cite web|last=Juncker|first=Jean-Claude|author-link=Jean-Claude Juncker|title =Council of Europe – European Union: "A sole ambition for the European continent"|year=2006|publisher=Council of Europe|url=http://assembly.coe.int/Sessions/2006/speeches/20060411_report_JCJuncker_EN.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://assembly.coe.int/Sessions/2006/speeches/20060411_report_JCJuncker_EN.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|access-date = 5 August 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Reform Draft">{{cite web|title=Draft treaty modifying the treaty on the European Union and the treaty establishing the European community|date=24 July 2007|publisher=[[Open Europe]]|url=http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/translation.pdf|access-date=5 August 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808073053/http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/translation.pdf|archive-date=8 August 2007}}</ref>

=== Schools of Political Studies ===
The Council of Europe ''Schools 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;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.schoolsofpoliticalstudies.eu/index.php/en/ |title=Home |publisher=Schoolsofpoliticalstudies.eu |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/schools-political-studies |title=Schools of Political Studies |publisher=Coe.int |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref>

=== United Nations ===
Cooperation between the CoE and the [[UN]] started with the agreement signed by the Secretariats of these institutions on 15 December 1951. On 17 October 1989, the [[United Nations General Assembly|General 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/der/united-nations|title=The Council of Europe's Relations with the United Nations|website=The Council of Europe|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-08-25}}</ref> Currently, the Council of Europe holds [[United Nations General Assembly observers|observer status]] with the [[United Nations]] and is regularly represented in the [[UN 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 ===

[[Non-governmental organisations]] (NGOs) can participate in the [[INGOs Conference of the Council of Europe]] and become observers to inter-governmental committees of experts. The Council of Europe drafted the [[European 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 the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] protects the right to freedom of association, which is also a fundamental norm for NGOs. The rules for [[consultative status]] for INGOs appended to the resolution (93)38 "On relation between the Council of Europe and [[International nongovernmental organizations|non-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".<ref>{{cite web| url = https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=Res%282003%298&Language=lanEnglish&Ver=original&Site=CM&BackColorInternet=C3C3C3&BackColorIntranet=EDB021&BackColorLogged=F5D383| title = COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS Resolution Res(2003)8 Participatory status for international non-governmental organisations with the Council of Europe (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 19 November 2003 at the 861st meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)|work=wcd.coe.int |access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref>

=== Others ===

On 30 May 2018, the Council of Europe signed a [[memorandum of understanding]] with the European [[Association football|football]] confederation [[UEFA]].<ref>{{cite web |title=UEFA and the Council of Europe sign Memorandum of Understanding |date = 30 May 2018|url=https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/news/newsid=2561781.html |publisher=UEFA |access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref>

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 finalized in October 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://tass.com/sport/1024752|title=Council of Europe and FIFA ink landmark deal on cooperation in shared areas|work=TASS|access-date=2018-12-03|language=ru}}</ref>

== Characteristics ==

=== Privileges and immunities ===
The General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe grants the organisation certain privileges and immunities.<ref name="priv-immu-EC">[http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/002.htm General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe], Council of Europe</ref>

The working conditions of staff are governed by the council's staff regulations, which are public.<ref>[http://www.coe.int/t/administrativetribunal/WCD/staff_en.asp Resolutions on the Council of Europe Staff Regulations], Council of Europe</ref> Salaries and emoluments paid by the Council of Europe to its officials are tax-exempt on the basis of Article&nbsp;18 of the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe.<ref name="priv-immu-EC"/>

=== Symbol and anthem ===

{{Main|Symbols of Europe|Flag of Europe}}

The Council of Europe created, and has since 1955 used as its official symbol, the [[Flag of Europe|European Flag]] with 12 golden stars arranged in a circle on a blue background.

Its musical anthem since 1972, the "[[Anthem of Europe|European anthem]]", is based on the "[[Ode to Joy]]" theme from [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|ninth symphony]].

On 5 May 1964, the 15th anniversary of its founding, the Council of Europe established 5 May as [[Europe Day]].<ref name="symbols">{{cite web|title=Flag, anthem and logo: the Council of Europe's symbols |publisher=Council of Europe |url=http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/emblems/emblemes.asp |access-date=5 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731041722/http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/emblems/emblemes.asp |archive-date=31 July 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The wide private and public use of the European Flag is encouraged to symbolise a European dimension. To avoid confusion with the [[European 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".<ref name="symbols"/><ref>{{cite web| title =Logo of the Council of Europe| publisher=Council of Europe| url=http://www.coe.int/02/Logo/Pictures/LogoCoE/LogoCoe.jpg| access-date = 5 August 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110102024938/http://www.coe.int/02/Logo/Pictures/LogoCoE/LogoCoe.jpg| archive-date=2011-01-02}}</ref>

== Criticism and controversies ==

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",<ref name="ESI_HavelPrize">{{cite news|last1=European Stability Initiative|title=What the 2014 Havel Prize says about the Council of Europe – and what should happen now|url=http://www.esiweb.org/rumeliobserver/2014/09/29/what-the-2014-havel-prize-says-about-the-council-of-europe-and-what-should-happen-now/|access-date=29 September 2014|agency=ESI web|issue=29 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001072918/http://www.esiweb.org/rumeliobserver/2014/09/29/what-the-2014-havel-prize-says-about-the-council-of-europe-and-what-should-happen-now/|archive-date=1 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> despite of launching political and economic activities that could generate redundancies with other international organizations (including the [[European Union]] and [[OCSE]]). <ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17741526 |title=What is the Council of Europe? |work=BBC News |date=5 February 2015 |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref><ref name="euractiv1">{{cite web|last=Morgan |first=Sam |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/all/news/the-brief-council-of-europe-in-hunt-for-relevance/ |title=The Brief: Council of Europe in hunt for relevance |publisher=Euractiv.com |date=2017-04-26 |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> <ref>{{cite magazine |title=Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe |magazine=[[The Economist]] |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2013/03/azerbaijan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006134510/https://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2013/03/azerbaijan |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=unfit |access-date=26 October 2022 |date=23 March 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In October 2022, a new and different Pan-European meeting of 44 states was held, as the "inaugural summit of the [[European Political Community]]", a new forum largely organized by French President [[Emmanuel 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."<ref name=CookJanicekCorbet>{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-turkey-prague-middle-east-508b968f182e5da7cf721f9928f2a937 |title=Europe holds 44-leader summit, leaves Russia in the cold |author=Lorne Cook |author2=Karel Janicek |author3=Sylvie Corbet |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date=6 October 2022 |access-date=6 October 2022}}</ref>  A feature of the new forum is that [[Russia]] and [[Belarus]] are deliberately excluded,<ref name=CookJanicekCorbet/> 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|date=May 2023}}

=== "Caviar diplomacy" scandal ===
{{See also|Azerbaijani laundromat}}
After Azerbaijan joined the CoE in 2001, both the Council and its Parliamentary Assembly were criticised for having a weak response to election rigging and [[Human rights in Azerbaijan|human rights violations in Azerbaijan]].<ref name=PACEGuard>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/apr/22/council-of-europe-members-suspected-of-corruption-inquiry-reveals |title=Council of Europe members suspected of corruption, inquiry reveals |work=The Guardian |date=2018-04-22 |access-date=2020-09-24}}</ref> The [[Human 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".<ref name="HRW_Criticism">{{cite news|last1=Human Rights Watch|title=Azerbaijan: Government Repression Tarnishes Chairmanship Council of Europe's Leadership Should Take Action|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/09/29/azerbaijan-government-repression-tarnishes-chairmanship|access-date=29 September 2014|date=29 September 2014}}</ref> An internal inquiry was set up in 2017 amid allegations of bribery by Azerbaijan government officials and criticism of "[[caviar diplomacy]]" at the Council.<ref name=Rankin>Jennifer Rankin, [https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/feb/01/council-of-europe-urged-investigate-azerbaijan-bribery-allegations Council of Europe urged to investigate Azerbaijan bribery allegations], ''The Guardian'', 1 February 2017.</ref><ref name=Valencia>{{cite magazine |author=Matthew Valencia |url=https://www.economist.com/1843/2016/08/31/caviar-diplomacy-in-azerbaijan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926025428/https://www.economist.com/1843/2016/08/31/caviar-diplomacy-in-azerbaijan |archive-date=26 September 2020 |url-status=unfit |title=Heaping on the Caviar Diplomacy |magazine=[[The Economist]] |date=2020-06-19 |access-date=2020-09-24}}{{cbignore}}</ref> A 219-page report was issued in 2018 after a ten-month investigation.<ref name=PACEGuard/> 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 president [[Pedro Agramunt]] and suggested that he had engaged in "corruptive activities" before his resignation under pressure in 2017.<ref name=PACEGuard/> The inquiry also named Italian member [[Luca Volontè]] as a suspect in "activities of a corruptive nature".<ref name=PACEGuard/> 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.<ref name=Rankin/><ref name=Valencia/><ref>{{Cite news|language=it|first=Milena|last=Gabanelli|url=http://www.corriere.it/cronache/17_gennaio_30/consiglio-d-europa-caso-azerbaijan-regali-milioni-2cbc0b5e-e66b-11e6-84c1-08780d9999f1.shtml?refresh_ce-cp|title=Il Consiglio d'Europa e il caso Azerbaijan tra regali e milioni |trans-title=The Council of Europe and the Azerbaijan case between gifts and millions |work=Corriere della Sera|access-date=2017-01-30}}</ref> 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 in [[Milan]] to four years in prison.<ref>Zdravko Ljubas, [https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13628-italian-court-sentences-former-council-of-europe-mp-for-bribery Italian Court Sentences Former Council of Europe MP for Bribery], [[Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project]] (January 14, 2021).</ref>

== See also ==

{{Portal|Europe|Politics}}
* [[CAHDI]]
* [[Council of Europe–European Union relations]]
* [[Common European Framework of Reference for Languages]]
* [[Conference of Specialised Ministers]]
* [[Council of Europe Archives]]
* [[The Europe Prize]]
* [[European Anti-fraud Office]]
* [[European Political Community]]
* [[Film Award of the Council of Europe]]
* [[Moneyval]]
* [[International organisations in Europe]], and co-ordinated organisations
* [[List of Council of Europe treaties]]
* [[List of linguistic rights in European constitutions]]
* [[North–South Centre]] of the Council of Europe

== Notes ==

=== Footnotes ===
{{notelist}}

=== References ===

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book |last1=Dedman |first1=Martin |year=2006 |title=The Origins and Development of the European Union 1945–1995|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780203131817|doi=10.4324/9780203131817}}
* Dinan, Desmond. ''Europe Recast: A History of European Union'' (2nd ed. 2004). [https://www.rienner.com/uploads/53aae65db9769.pdf excerpt] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021131211/https://www.rienner.com/uploads/53aae65db9769.pdf |date=21 October 2016 }}; the excerpt covers the historiography
* Gillingham, John. ''Coal, Steel, and the Rebirth of Europe, 1945–1955: The Germans and French from Ruhr Conflict to Economic Community'' (Cambridge UP, 2004).
* {{cite journal |last1=Guerrieri |first1=Sandro |year=2014 |title=From the Hague Congress to the Council of Europe: Hopes, achievements and disappointments in the parliamentary way to European integration (1948–51)|journal=Parliaments, Estates and Representation |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=216–227 |doi=10.1080/02606755.2014.952133|s2cid=142610321 }}
* Kopf, Susanne. ''Debating the European Union Transnationally: Wikipedians' Construction of the EU on a Wikipedia Talk Page (2001–2015)''. (PhD dissertation Lancaster University, 2018)[https://web.archive.org/web/20190516115656/http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/126749/1/2018kopfphd.pdf online].
* Moravcsik, Andrew. ''The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht'' (Cornell UP, 1998). {{isbn|9780801435096}}. {{oclc|925023272}}.
* Stone, Dan. ''Goodbye to All That?: The Story of Europe Since 1945'' (Oxford UP, 2014).
* {{cite book |last1=Urwin |first1=Derek W. |year=2014 |title=The Community of Europe |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781315843650 |doi=10.4324/9781315843650}}

== External links ==

* {{Official website|https://www.coe.int/}}
* [http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/002.htm General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe], Paris, 2 September 1949

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