Council of Europe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Council of Europe (French: Conseil de l'Europe) is the oldest organisation working for European integration since 1949. The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg on the Franco-German border. Having held its first meeting in Strasbourg's University Palace, it is domiciled in the Palace of Europe and adjacent buildings about two kilometres from the city centre.

English and French are its two official languages, but its Committee of Ministers and its Parliamentary Assembly also work in German, Italian and Russian.

The Council of Europe should not be confused with the Council of the European Union or the European Council, as it is a separate international organisation and not part of the European Union which, however, adopted the same European flag and anthem subsequently.

[edit] History

In 1945, at the end of the second World War, Europe was marked by unprecedented devastation and human suffering. It faced new political challenges, in particular reconciliation among the peoples of Europe. This situation favoured the long held idea of European integration through the creation of common institutions.

In his famous speech at the University of Zurich in 1946, Sir Winston Churchill called for a United States of Europe and the creation of a Council of Europe.

At a specific congress of more than a thousand government representatives, politicians and civil society in The Hague in 1948, the future structure of the Council of Europe was discussed. There were two schools of thought competing: 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 the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly under the Statute of the Council of Europe of 1949.

This dual governmental/parliamentary approach was also kept for the European Communities later, which were organisations separate from the Council of Europe, but whose Assemblies met in Strasbourg in the Palace of Europe of the Council of Europe until they were transformed to the directly elected European Parliament of the European Union and a separate building was built in Strasbourg.

The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London. The Statute of the Council of Europe was signed in London on that day by ten states: Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Many states followed, especially after the democratic transitions in central and eastern Europe during the early 1990s, and the Council of Europe now integrates nearly all states of Europe.

[edit] Symbols

Main articles: European symbols and European flag

The Council of Europe is responsible for the notable European flag with 12 golden stars (upward pointing) arranged in a circle on a blue background since 1955, and the anthem based on the Ode to Joy in the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth symphony since 1972. In 1964, it established the anniversary of its founding on 5 May 1949 as Europe Day. (The EU has also designated a Europe Day, 9 May; see European symbols.)

To avoid confusion with the European Union, which adopted the same flag, the Council often uses a modified version with a stylised lower-case 'e' in the centre of the stars which is referred to as the "Council of Europe Logo" [1].

[edit] Aims

Article 1(a) of the Statute states:

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.

Therefore, membership is open to all European democracies which accept the principle of the rule of law and are able and willing to guarantee fundamental human rights and freedoms.

[edit] Achievements

The Council of Europe's most important achievement is the European Convention on Human Rights, adopted in 1950, which 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 for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The wide activities and achievements of the Council of Europe can be found in detail on its official website. In a nutshell, the Council of Europe works in the following areas:

• Protection of democracy through election monitoring by its Parliamentary Assembly and assistance in democratic reforms, in particular by the Venice Commission.

• Protection of the rule of law and fostering legal co-operation through some 200 conventions and other treaties, including such leading instruments as the Convention on Cybercrime, the conventions on the suppression and prevention of terrorism, the conventions against corruption and organised crime, and the convention on bioethics.

• Protection of human rights, notably through:
  • the European Convention on Human Rights
  • the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
  • social rights under the European Social Charter
  • linguistic rights under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
  • minority rights under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
  • Media freedom under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention on Transfrontier Television

• Promotion of cultural co-operation and diversity under the Council of Europe's Cultural Convention of 1954 and several conventions on the protection of cultural heritage.

• Promotion of the right to education under Article 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).

• Promotion of fair sport through the Anti-doping Convention and the Convention against spectator violence.

[edit] Institutions

The institutions of the Council of Europe are:

• The Secretariat and the Secretary General
• The Committee of Ministers
• The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE)
• The Congress of the Council of Europe (Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe)
• The European Court of Human Rights
• The Commissioner for Human Rights

The CoE system also includes a number of autonomous structures known as "partial agreements". Among them:

• The European Audiovisual Observatory
• The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines
• The Pompidou Group - Cooperation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs
• The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission
• The Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO).
• In 2007, a new partial agreement on sport was established, which is open to accession by states and sport associations.

[edit] Membership

The Council of Europe has 47 member states in the European region (with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Georgia and Cyprus also extending into Western Asia and Russia into North Asia). With the exception of Belarus and Kazakhstan all European states have acceded to the Council of Europe.

Upon foundation on 5 May 1949 there were ten members:

In 1950, then West Germany and French-occupied Saarland became associate members. (West) Germany became a full member in 1951, while the Saarland withdrew from its associate membership in 1956. Saarland was then reintegrated with (West) Germany through a referendum in 1957. The Soviet-occupied eastern part of Germany and later East Germany never became a member of the Council of Europe like other East Bloc countries. Following German reunification in 1990, eastern Germans became part of Germany and thus gained representation in the Council of Europe. ^[1]

Subsequent members by date of admission:

Following its declaration of independence on 3 June 2006, Montenegro submitted a request to accede to (join) the Council of Europe. The Committee of Ministers transmitted the request to the Parliamentary Assembly for opinion, in accordance with the usual procedure. [2] Eleven days later, on 14 June 2006, the Committee of Ministers declared that the Republic of Serbia would continue the membership of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. [3]

[edit] Applicants

The Parliament of Belarus held special guest status with the Parliamentary Assembly from September 1992 to January 1997, but this has been suspended as a consequence of the November 1996 constitutional referendum and parliament by-elections which the CoE found to be undemocratic, as well as limits on democratic freedoms such as freedom of expression (cf. Belarusian media) under the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. The constitution changed by the referendum "does not respect minimum democratic standards and violates the principles of separation of powers and the rule of law." [4]. Belarus applied for full membership on 12 March 1993 (still open).

Kazakhstan applied for observer status at the Parliamentary Assembly in 1999. The official response of PACE was that Kazakhstan could apply for full membership, because it is partially located in Europe, but that it would not be granted any status whatsoever at CoE until its democracy and human rights records improved.

[edit] Observers

Canada, Japan, Mexico, the USA and the Holy See have Observer Status with the Council of Europe and the parliaments of Canada, Israel and Mexico have observer status with its Parliamentary Assembly.

[edit] Co-operation with non-member states

The Council of Europe works mainly through conventions. By drafting conventions or international treaties, common legal standards are set for its member states. However, several conventions have also been opened for signature to non-member states. Important examples are the Convention on Cybercrime, the Anti-doping Convention and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.

Non-member states also participate in several partial agreements, such as the Venice Commission and the European Pharmacopoeia.

[edit] Inter-regional and local co-operation

Since 1994, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe assembles locally and regionally elected representatives from 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.

[edit] Co-operation with NGOs

NGOs can participate in the INGO 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.