The Council of Europe is an international organization promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation. It was founded in 1949, has 47 member states with some 800 million citizens, and is an entirely separate body from the European Union (EU), which has only 27 member states. Unlike the EU, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws. The two do however share certain symbols such as the flag of Europe. The Council of Europe has nothing to do with either the Council of the European Union or the European Council, which are both EU bodies.
The best known bodies of the Council of Europe are the European Court of Human Rights, which enforces the European Convention on Human Rights, and the European Pharmacopoeia Commission, which sets the quality standards for pharmaceutical products in Europe. The Council of Europe’s work has resulted in standards, charters and conventions to facilitate cooperation between European countries.
Its statutory institutions are the Committee of Ministers comprising the foreign ministers of each member state, the Parliamentary Assembly composed of MPs from the parliament of each member state, and the Secretary General heading the secretariat of the Council of Europe. The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in the member states.
The headquarters of the Council of Europe are in Strasbourg, France, with English and French as its two official languages. The Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress also use German, Italian, and Russian for some of their work.
While the member states of the European Union transfer national legislative and executive powers to the European Commission and the European Parliament in specific areas under European Community law, Council of Europe member states maintain their sovereignty but commit themselves through conventions (i.e., public 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, whereas secondary European Community law is set by the organs of the European Union. Both organizations function as concentric circles around the common foundations for European integration, 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. Being part of public international law, Council of Europe conventions could also be opened 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 Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly. 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 for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is to this court that Europeans can bring cases if they believe that a member country has violated their fundamental rights.
3. Reading
Do ex. 3, p. 249.
4. Speaking
Do ex. 4, p. 249.
5. Summary
1) Who designed Flag of Europe?
a) 1 Programmer: Paul Gregory
b) 2 Arsu00E8ne Heitz and Paul Lu00E9vy
c) 3 Paul Brown
d) 4 Paul Philippe Cret of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2) What is the leader of Council of Europe called?
a) 1 Secretary-General of the United Nations
b) 2 Managing Director
c) 3 Commissioner for Human Rights
d) 4 OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
3) The Council of Europe is one of the oldest international organization working towards ... , having been founded in 1949.
a) 1 European integration
b) 2 Schengen Area
c) 3 Eurozone
d) 4 European Union
4) 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, ... .
a) 1 Czech Republic
b) Hungary
c) Poland
d) Austria
5) ..., Japan, Mexico, the U.S. and the Holy See have observer status with the Council of Europe and can participate in the Committee of Ministers and all intergovernmental committees.
a) Canada
b) Belize
c) Barbados
d) United Kingdom
6) The Council also voted to restore Special Guest status to ... , on condition that this country declares a moratorium on the death penalty.
a) Belarus
b) Azerbaijan
c) Serbia
d) Bosnia and Herzegovina
7) Which of the following lead to the establishment of Council of Europe?
a) 1 Cambodian coup of 1970
b) 3 ASEAN Charter
c) Treaty of London (1949)
d) Liberation Day
8) The British MP Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe was rapporteur for the drafting of the... .
a) 1 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
b) 2 International human rights law
c) 3 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
d) 4 European Convention on Human Rights
6. Homework
Look for some information about other international organizations and write about one of them
