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The Council of Europe is an international organization of 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. 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. The Council of Europe should not be confused with the European Union. NGOs can participate in the INGO Conference of the Council of Europe.
Its most enduring legacy is the European Convention on Human Rights, adopted in 1950, which serves as the basis for the European Court of Human Rights. 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 seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg on the Franco-German border. Originally meeting in Strasbourg's University Palace, it is domiciled in the Palace of Europe about two kilometres from city centre. 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.
The Council of Europe should not be confused with the Council of the European Union or the European Council, as it is a separate organization and not part of the European Union.
Sir Winston Churchill is credited as having been one of the founders of the Council of Europe, because he was the first, in the wake of the events of World War II, to call publicly for the creation of a council of Europe working towards the "United States of Europe", similar to the United States of America, at his speech at the University of Zürich on 19 September 1946 (text of speech).
The Council was officially founded on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London, which established the Council of Europe. The Treaty of London was signed 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.
Article 1(a) of the Statute states:
The Council concentrates on the following areas:
The institutions of the Council of Europe are:
The CoE system also includes a number of autonomous structures known as "partial agreements". Among them:
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, May 9; 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" [4].
Upon foundation on May 5, 1949 there were ten members: <br/><br/> <br/><br/> <br/> <br/>
Subsequent members by date of admission:
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 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." [5]. Belarus applied for full membership on 12 March 1993 (still open).
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. [https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1010157] 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. [https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1010125]
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.
The Holy See has observer status at the Committee of Ministers since 1970.
Some non-European states also have observer status at Council of Europe institutions:
In 1950, West Germany and Saarland became associate members. West Germany became a full member in 1951, while Saarland withdrew from its independent membership in 1956. Saarland was then reintegrated with West Germany in 1957. East Germany never became a member, but, following German reunification in 1990, its citizens gained representation.[1]
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![[4]](http://www.coe.int/02/Logo/Pictures/LogoCoE/LogoCoe.jpg){kind=link}