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The Council of Europe
Council of Europe in Strasbourg
© picture-alliance/dpa
Council of Europe in Strasbourg
Council of Europe in Strasbourg
© picture-alliance/dpa
The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949, the first of the major European post-war organizations. It currently has 47 member states, including every country in Europe except Belarus and Kosovo. On 13 July 1950, the Federal Republic of Germany was accepted into the Council of Europe, initially as an associate member and later as a full member (from 2 May 1951). The chair, which rotates every six months among all the Council’s member states, is currently held by Turkey; Ukraine will assume the chair in May 2011.
What used to be an exclusive “club for the democracies of the West” has now developed into a truly pan-European institution. Five further states – the Holy See, the United States, Canada, Japan and Mexico – have been granted observer status. All 27 European Union member states were members of the Council of Europe before joining the EU. The Council’s seat is in Strasbourg (France).
Promoting shared values
The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realizing the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress (Article 1 of the Statute of the Council of Europe). Since its foundation, the Council has consistently sought to promote human rights, pluralistic democracy and the rule of law, as well as to draw up guidelines for a democratic Europe.
The Council of Europe and the EU
In May 2007 the EU and the Council of Europe signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
In it, the EU and the Council of Europe expressed their intent to cooperate even more closely in the Council of Europe’s key areas (protection of human rights, promotion of democracy and the rule of law), to consult each other and to promote coherence and synergies.
The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, which envisages the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, offers new opportunities for close cooperation between the Council of Europe and the EU. Accession negotiations between the Council of Europe and the EU began on 6 July 2010.
