The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organisation, based on cooperation between the governments of its 46 member states. Its principal decision-making body is the Committee of Ministers, composed of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of each member state.
In the day-to-day work of the Council of Europe, foreign ministers are represented by their Deputies, namely the Permanent Representatives (Ambassadors) of the member states to the Organisation. When the Committee of Ministers meets at ambassadorial level, which it normally does once a week, it is referred to as the Ministers’ Deputies. The Committee of Ministers meets at ministerial level once a year, traditionally in May.
The Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers rotates among member states every six months. The Committee is supported by ministerial conferences, steering committees and a wide range of expert committees covering the Organisation’s principal fields of cooperation, including human rights, legal affairs, media, social and labour policy, culture, education, sport, youth policy, health, environmental protection and local and regional democracy.
Summits bringing together Heads of State and Government are not held on a regular basis. Such meetings took place in Vienna in 1993, Strasbourg in 1997, Warsaw in 2005 and most recently in Reykjavik in May 2023, providing strategic guidance for the future direction of the Organisation.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is a deliberative body that adopts recommendations addressed to the Committee of Ministers and issues opinions on draft conventions and other legal instruments. Through its public debates, the Assembly draws attention to major European issues, including concerns relating to democracy, the rule of law and human rights in individual member states. The Assembly currently consists of 630 parliamentarians, including 315 representatives and 315 substitutes, appointed by national parliaments. Members sit in transnational political groups rather than national delegations alone. The Assembly holds four plenary part-sessions each year, in January, April, June and October.
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is a consultative body representing elected local and regional politicians from the member states. Like the Parliamentary Assembly, it consists of 630 members. Its annual plenary session is held in May or June.
These institutions are supported by a Secretariat of approximately 2,200 staff members under the authority of the Secretary General. Since September 2024, the position has been held by Alain Berset of Switzerland. The Deputy Secretary General is Bjørn Berge of Norway, who took office in March 2021.
The European Court of Human Rights examines applications lodged by individuals or states alleging violations of the rights protected under the European Convention on Human Rights. One judge is elected in respect of each member state. The President of the Court is the French judge Mattias Guyomar. As in national judicial systems, a number of applications are declared inadmissible because they fall outside the Court’s jurisdiction or fail to meet procedural requirements. Cases that are examined on the merits are decided by majority vote among the judges sitting in the case, and judgments are published together with their reasoning. Judgments are legally binding on the states concerned, and their execution is supervised by the Committee of Ministers.
The office of the Commissioner for Human Rights was established in 1999 with the purpose of promoting human rights education and awareness and strengthening the effective implementation of Council of Europe human rights standards. The Commissioner carries out country visits, which may result in reports, recommendations and public statements addressing specific human rights concerns. The office is currently held by Michael O'Flaherty of Ireland.
In addition, the Council of Europe has established a number of independent monitoring and advisory bodies tasked with assisting member states in fulfilling their obligations under the Organisation’s conventions and standards. These include European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the Venice Commission, which provides constitutional and legal expertise on democratic institutions and constitutional reform.
Around 400 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) enjoy participatory status with the Council of Europe. These organisations meet regularly in connection with the plenary sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly.
Alongside the Organisation’s core activities, a number of partial agreements allow groups of member states to pursue enhanced cooperation in specific sectors. Examples include the Council of Europe Development Bank, which supports social development projects, particularly in emerging democracies, the European Pharmacopoeia, which establishes standards for medicinal products, and Eurimages, which supports the co-production and distribution of European films and audiovisual works.
The official languages of the Council of Europe are English and French.
