Is the Council of Europe part of the EU?

No, the Council of Europe is not part of the EU, but it is easy to confuse the name ‘Council of Europe’ with the ‘European Council’ or the ‘Council of Ministers’/‘Council’. 

The Council of Europe is an international organisation established in 1949 with the aim of promoting values such as democracy, human rights and the development of a society based on the rule of law. 

The ten original members of the organisation were France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark . As of 1 February 2005 the Council of Europe has 46 member countries.

The Council of Europe is organised into the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe has its seat in the French city of Strasbourg .

The Committee of Ministers has decision-making competence and comprises the foreign ministers of the member countries or the governments’ Permanent Representatives at the Council of Europe. 

The Parliamentary Assembly comprises politicians from the national parliaments. The Assembly is viewed as the forum for initiative in the Council of Europe. Current political and social issues are debated in the Assembly, which can make recommendations to the Committee of Ministers. The admission of new members to the Council of Europe must also be approved by the Parliamentary Assembly. 

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities comprises representatives of all the member countries’ local and regional authorities; its aim is to strengthen democracy at grassroots level, particularly in the new democracies. Among other things the Council of Europe draws up treaties which are legally binding for the member countries once they have ratified them and are therefore obliged to incorporate the treaties in their legislation.

The Council of Europe’s best-known document is probably the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms adopted in 1950. Anyone who considers that his or her rights pursuant to the Convention have been violated can, once national remedies have been exhausted, bring a complaint before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. 

You can read more about the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights at the Council of Europe’s website: www.coe.int.