113-507: The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty which was opened for signature on 18 October 1961 and initially became effective on 26 February 1965, after West Germany had become the fifth of the 13 signing nations to ratify it. By 1991, 20 nations had ratified it. The Charter was established to support the European Convention on Human Rights which is principally for civil and political rights , and to broaden
226-618: A circle on a blue field. It is the official flag of the European Union . It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe . Since 1985, the flag has also been a symbol of the European Union (EU), whose 27 member states are all also CoE members, although in that year the EU had not yet assumed its present name or constitutional form (which came in steps in 1993 and 2009). Adoption by
339-698: A "European lottery" to campaigning for the introduction of local voting rights for foreign nationals throughout Europe. Under the header of "strengthening of the Community's image and identity", the Committee suggested the introduction of "a flag and an emblem", recommending a design based on the Council of Europe flag, but with the addition of "a gold letter E" in the center of the circle of stars. The European Council held in Milan on 28/29 June 1985 largely followed
452-522: A 70-year period by some 216 presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and religious leaders from 45 countries – though it continues to expand, as new speeches are added every few months. Some very early speeches by individuals considered to be "founding figures" of the European institutions, even if they were not heads of state or government at the time, are also included (such as Sir Winston Churchill or Robert Schuman ). Addresses by eight monarchs appear in
565-527: A circle of twelve golden mullets , their points not touching." The flag used is the Flag of Europe, which consists of a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background. Originally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe, the flag was adopted by the European Communities , the predecessors of the present European Union, in 1986. The Council of Europe gave the flag a symbolic description in
678-465: A compromise with Russia in early 2018, a move that was criticised by some as giving in to alleged Russian pressure by Council members and academic observers, especially if voting sanctions were lifted. In June 2019, an approximately two-thirds majority of the Council voted (on a 118–62 vote, with 10 abstentions) to restore Russia's voting rights in the council. Opponents of lifting the suspension included Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries , such as
791-538: A cross for several reasons. Firstly, the cross symbolizes roads crossing, and also represents the east, the west, the north, and the south with its arms. Furthermore, the cross appears in most of the European Council members' flags, and it is the oldest and most noble symbol in Europe. Moreover, the cross depicted Christianity. As far as the colours are concerned, he proposed them to be white and green, colours of
904-581: A full-scale military invasion of Ukraine , the council suspended Russia for violations of the council's statute and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The suspension blocked Russia from participation in the council's ministerial council, the PACE, and the Council of the Baltic Sea States , but still left Russia obligated to follow the ECHR. On 15 March 2022, hours before the vote to expel
1017-455: A member country has violated their fundamental rights and freedoms. The various activities and achievements of the Council of Europe can be found in detail on its official website. The Council of Europe works in the following areas: The institutions of the Council of Europe are: The CoE system also includes a number of semi-autonomous structures known as " Partial Agreements ", some of which are also open to non-member states: Occasionally
1130-570: A member withdraws from the Council under Article 7. (The Statute does not define the "serious violation" phrase. Under Article 8 of the Statute, if a member state fails to withdraw upon request, the Committee may terminate its membership, in consultation with the PACE. The Council suspended Greece in 1967, after a military coup d'état , and the Greek junta withdrew from the CoE. Greece was readmitted to
1243-504: A much higher level of integration through the transfer of powers from the national to the EU level. "The Council of Europe and the European Union: different roles, shared values." Council of Europe conventions/treaties are also open 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
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#17327570247891356-462: A political forum with parliamentarians. Both approaches were finally combined through the creation of a Committee of Ministers (in which governments were represented) and a Consultative Assembly (in which parliaments were represented), the two main bodies mentioned in the Statute of the Council of Europe. This dual intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary structure was later copied for the European Communities , NATO and OSCE . The Council of Europe
1469-474: A population of approximately 675 million as of 2023 ; it operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million euros . The organisation is distinct from the European Union (EU), although people sometimes confuse the two organisations – partly because the EU has adopted the original European flag , designed for the Council of Europe in 1955, as well as the European anthem . No country has ever joined
1582-516: A status that allows them to participate in CoE activities without being full members. There are three types of nonmember status: associate member , special guest and observer . Associate member status was created for former Axis states which had not yet regained their sovereignty since their defeat in the Second World War; as such, it is no longer used, although there have been proposals to reactivate it to permit enhanced participation by
1695-486: A supervisory mechanism guaranteeing their respect by the States parties. Article 21 creates the right to information and consultation. Article 22 creates the "right to take part in the determination and improvement of the working conditions and working environment", or codetermination through representation on company or enterprise board of directors and work councils . The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR)
1808-513: A symbol. Numerous proposals were looked into. Among the unsuccessful proposals was the flag of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi 's International Paneuropean Union , which he had himself recently adopted for the European Parliamentary Union . The design was a blue field with a red cross inside an orange circle at the centre. Kalergi was very committed to defending the cross as "the great symbol of Europe's moral unity",
1921-562: Is composed of members of the national parliaments of each member state. The Commissioner for Human Rights is an institution within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights within the member states. The secretary general presides over the secretariat of the organisation. Other major CoE bodies include the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) and
2034-755: Is open to all European states who seek harmony, cooperation, good governance and human rights, accepting the principle of the rule of law and are able and willing to guarantee democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms. Whereas the member states of the European Union transfer part of their national legislative and executive powers to the European Commission and the European Parliament , Council of Europe member states maintain their sovereignty but commit themselves through conventions/treaties ( international law ) and co-operate on
2147-475: Is the body responsible for monitoring compliance in the States party to the Charter. The ECSR is composed of 15 independent members who are elected by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers for a period of six years, renewable once. Under the 1995 Additional Protocol providing for a system of Collective Complaints which came into force in 1998, complaints of violations of the Charter may be lodged with
2260-526: The Baltic states , who argued that readmission amounted to normalizing Russia's malign activity. Supporters of restoring Russia's council rights included France and Germany, which argued that a Russian withdrawal from the council would be harmful because it would deprive Russian citizens of their ability to initiate cases in the European Court of Human Rights . On 3 March 2022, after Russia launched
2373-582: The Eastern Bloc . Others again saw it as a nascent "United States of Europe", the resonant phrase that Churchill had reached for at Zurich in 1946. The future structure of the Council of Europe was discussed at the Congress of Europe , which brought together several hundred leading politicians, government representatives and members of civil society in The Hague , Netherlands , in 1948. Responding to
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#17327570247892486-592: The European Audiovisual Observatory . The headquarters of the Council of Europe, as well as its Court of Human Rights, are situated in Strasbourg , France . The Council uses English and French as its two official languages . The Committee of Ministers, the PACE, and the Congress of the Council of Europe also use German and Italian for some of their work. In a speech in 1929, French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand floated
2599-674: The European Commission ) for the first time on 29 May 1986. The European Union, which was established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 to replace the European Communities and encompass its functions, has retained de facto use of the "Community logo" of the EC. Technically and officially, the "European flag" as used by the European Union remains not a "flag" but "a Community 'logo' — or 'emblem' — [...] eligible to be reproduced on rectangular pieces of fabric". In 1997,
2712-772: The European Treaty Series . Several conventions have also been opened for signature to non-member states. Important examples are the Convention on Cybercrime (signed for example, by Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States), the Lisbon Recognition Convention on the recognition of study periods and degrees (signed for example, by Australia, Belarus, Canada, the Holy See , Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, New Zealand and
2825-423: The European Union , which is separate from the Council of Europe, although they have shared the same European flag and anthem since the 1980s since they both work for European integration . Nor is the Council of Europe to be confused with the European Union itself. The Council of Europe is an entirely separate body from the European Union. It is not controlled by it. Cooperation between the European Union and
2938-675: The General Assembly of the United Nations approved a resolution on granting observer status to the Council of Europe which was proposed by several member states of the CoE. Currently, the Council of Europe holds observer status with the United Nations and is regularly represented in the UN General Assembly . It has organised the regional UN conferences against racism and on women. It co-operates with
3051-705: The Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), the European Pharmacopoeia Commission and the North-South Centre . Invitations to sign and ratify relevant conventions of the Council of Europe on a case-by-case basis are sent to three groups of non-member entities: The Council of Europe is not to be confused with the Council of the European Union (the "Council of Ministers") or the European Council . These belong to
3164-683: The Holy See , Japan , Mexico , and the United States are observer states, while Israel is an observer to the PACE. Additionally Kosovo is a member of the Council of Europe Development Bank and a member of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission . The Assembly of Kosovo was invited to take part in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its committees as an observer in 2016. Two representatives of local government in Kosovo participate in
3277-968: The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe is established in Lisbon , Portugal , and the Centre for Modern Languages is in Graz , Austria . There are European Youth Centres in Budapest , Hungary , and in Strasbourg. The European Wergeland Centre, a new Resource Centre on education for intercultural dialogue, human rights and democratic citizenship, operated in cooperation with the Norwegian Government, opened in Oslo , Norway , in February 2009. The Council of Europe has external offices all over
3390-465: The Pan-European movement wrote a memorandum which contained some rules that a flag for such union should follow. The rules he stated where: After these statements, Coudenhove-Kalergi proposed that the Pan-European movement flag would be the perfect one to fit these criteria 15 July 1951, the consultative assembly put forward a final memorandum on the European flag. The symbols proposed where
3503-651: The Quartier européen , an area in the northeast of Strasbourg spread over the three districts of Le Wacken, La Robertsau and Quartier de l'Orangerie, where are also located the four buildings of the seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg , the Arte headquarters and the seat of the International Institute of Human Rights . Building in the area started in 1949 with the predecessor of
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3616-456: The Red Cross in particular being "recognized by the whole world, by Christian and non-Christian nations[,] as a symbol of international charity and of the brotherhood of man", but the proposal was rejected by Turkey (a member of the Council of Europe since 1949) on grounds of its religious associations in spite of Kalergi's suggestion of adding a crescent alongside the cross to overcome
3729-768: The Spanish transition to democracy . Next to join were Liechtenstein (1978), San Marino (1988) and Finland (1989). After the fall of Communism with the Revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union , the following countries in Europe joined: Hungary (1990), Poland (1991), Bulgaria (1992), Estonia (1993), Lithuania (1993), Slovenia (1993), the Czech Republic (1993), Slovakia (1993), Romania (1993), Andorra (1994), Latvia (1995), Moldova (1995), Albania (1995), Ukraine (1995),
3842-425: The Strasbourg coat of arms at the centre was only used for the pennants of Council personages and flags flown on Council buildings, and omitted in all other cases. The council put forward this proposal, which had a green flag with a white and red Star of Liberation, and the Strasbourg coat of arms on the upper left-hand corner. The star in a circle was in 1944-5 the insignia of the armies of Liberation. appeared in
3955-495: The face of a clock . The diameter of each star is equal to one-ninth of the height of the hoist. The colours are regulated in the 1996 guide by the EC, and equivalently in the 2004 guide by the Council of Europe. The base colour of the flag is defined as Pantone " Reflex Blue ", while the golden stars are portrayed in Pantone "Yellow": The 2013 logo of the Council of Europe has the colours: The twelve-star "flag of Europe"
4068-600: The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1995) (later renamed North Macedonia ), Russia (1996, expelled 2022), Croatia (1996), Georgia (1999), Armenia (2001), Azerbaijan (2001), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002), Serbia and Montenegro (later Serbia ) (2003) and Monaco (2004). The council now has 46 member states, with Montenegro (2007) being the latest to join. Although most Council members are predominantly Christian in heritage, there are four Muslim-majority member states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Albania, and Azerbaijan. The CoE has granted some countries
4181-641: The "Central and Eastern Eurobarometer " poll included a section intending to "discover the level of public awareness of the European Union" in what were then candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Interviewees were shown "a sticker of the European flag" and asked to identify it. Responses considered correct were: the European Union, the European Community, the Common Market , and "Europe in general". 52% of those interviewed gave one of
4294-647: The 500th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies. On 19 November 2003, the Committee of Ministers changed the consultative status into a participatory status, "considering that it is indispensable that the rules governing the relations between the Council of Europe and NGOs evolve to reflect the active participation of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in the Organisation's policy and work programme". Flag of Europe The flag of Europe or European flag consists of twelve golden stars forming
4407-698: The Agora Building are in the Robertsau district. The Agora building has been voted "best international business centre real estate project of 2007" on 13 March 2008, at the MIPIM 2008. The European Youth Centre is located in the Wacken district. Besides its headquarters in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe is also present in other cities and countries. The Council of Europe Development Bank has its seat in Paris,
4520-584: The Blessed Virgin Mary. An article posted in La Raison in February 2000 further connected the donation of a stained glass window for Strasbourg Cathedral by the Council of Europe on 21 October 1956. This window, a work by Parisian master Max Ingrand , shows a blessing Madonna underneath a circle of 12 stars on dark blue ground. The overall design of the Madonna is inspired by the banner of
4633-870: The Caucasus, as well as some countries in the Southern Mediterranean region. The schools are part of the Education Department, which is part of the Directorate of Democratic Participation within the Directorate General of Democracy ("DGII") of the Council of Europe. Cooperation between the CoE and the UN started with the agreement signed by the Secretariats of these institutions on 15 December 1951. On 17 October 1989,
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4746-640: The CoE should be "in principle open only to states whose national territory lies wholly or partly in Europe"; later, however, the Assembly extended eligibility to apply and be admitted to Armenia , Azerbaijan , and Georgia . The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by Belgium , Denmark , France , Ireland , Italy , Luxembourg , Netherlands , Norway , Sweden and the United Kingdom . Greece and Turkey joined three months later. Iceland , West Germany and Saar Protectorate joined
4859-414: The Council placing the institution under financial strain. Russia stated that its suspension by the council was unfair, and demanded the restoration of its voting rights. Russia had threatened to withdraw from the Council unless its voting rights were restored in time for the election of a new secretary general. European Council secretary-general Thorbjørn Jagland organized a special committee to find
4972-554: The Council instead under its exclusion mechanism rather than the withdrawal mechanism. After being excluded from the Council of Europe, Russia's former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev endorsed restoring the death penalty in Russia . The Council of Europe works mainly through international treaties, usually called conventions in its system. By drafting conventions or international treaties, common legal standards are set for its member states. The conventions are collected in
5085-420: The Council of Europe Statute specifies that membership is open to any "European" State) and political (Article 3 of the Statute states applying for membership must accept democratic values—"Every member of the Council of Europe must accept the principles of the rule of law and the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and collaborate sincerely and effectively in
5198-465: The Council of Europe as associate members in 1950. West Germany became a full member in 1951, and the Saar withdrew its application after it joined West Germany following the 1955 Saar Statute referendum . Joining later were Austria (1956), Cyprus (1961), Switzerland (1963), Malta (1965), and Portugal (1976). Spain joined in 1977, two years after the death of its dictator Francisco Franco and
5311-403: The Council of Europe in 2004, the flag is rectangular with 2:3 proportions: its fly (width) is one and a half times the length of its hoist (height). Twelve yellow stars are centred in a circle (the radius of which is a third of the length of the hoist) upon a blue background. All the stars are upright (one point straight up), have five points and are spaced equally, like the hour positions on
5424-477: The Council of Europe lobbied for other European organisations to adopt the flag as a sign of European unity. The European Parliament took the initiative in seeking a flag to be adopted by the European Communities . Shortly after the first direct elections in 1979 a draft resolution was put forward on the issue. The resolution proposed that the Communities' flag should be that of the Council of Europe and it
5537-437: The Council of Europe organizes summits of the heads of state and government of its member states. Four summits have been held to date with the fourth concluding on 17 May 2023. The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg , France. First meetings were held in Strasbourg's University Palace in 1949, but the Council of Europe soon moved into its own buildings. The Council of Europe's eight main buildings are situated in
5650-440: The Council of Europe today. Iceland had already joined in 1950, followed in 1956 by Austria, Cyprus in 1961, Switzerland in 1963 and Malta in 1965. In 2018, an archive of all speeches made to the PACE by heads of state or government since the Council of Europe's creation in 1949 appeared online, the fruit of a two-year project entitled "Voices of Europe". At the time of its launch, the archive comprised 263 speeches delivered over
5763-400: The Council of Europe was reinforced in the mid-2000s, notably on culture and education as well as on the international enforcement of justice and Human Rights. The European Union is expected to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights (the convention). There are also concerns about consistency in case law – the European Court of Justice (the EU's court in Luxembourg ) is treating
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#17327570247895876-401: The ECSR. Certain organisations are entitled to lodge complaints with the ECSR (a special list of NGOs has been established, made up of NGOs enjoying participatory status with the Council of Europe). The ECSR examines the complaint and, if the formal requirements have been met, declares it admissible. The State Party may then respond in writing, and a hearing may be requested by either party to
5989-413: The EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is an official United Nations observer . Unlike the EU, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws; however, the council has produced a number of international treaties, including the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR) of 1953. Provisions from
6102-422: The EU, or EC as it then was, reflected long-standing CoE desire to see the flag used by other European organisations. Official EU use widened greatly in the 1990s. Nevertheless, the flag has to date received no status in any of the EU's treaties . Its adoption as an official symbol was planned as part of the 2004 European Constitution but this failed to be ratified. Mention of the flag was removed in 2007 from
6215-538: The European Movement, which was of great significance since 1947. Green also depicted hope, and the green cross over a white background was a design that had not been used yet. Finally, Levy proposed that the arms of Strasbourg was an important element to be added as it represented where the council would be, and being located in the heart of the cross meant that the council was the point where the European roads met. Shortly after this design considerations by Paul Levy, on 27 July 1950, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, president of
6328-558: The European continent and beyond. There are four 'Programme Offices', namely in Ankara, Podgorica, Skopje, and Venice. There are also 'Council of Europe Offices' in Baku, Belgrade, Chisinau, Kyiv, Paris, Pristina, Sarajevo, Tbilisi, Tirana, and Yerevan . Bucharest has a Council of Europe Office on Cybercrime. There are also Council of Europe Offices in non-European capital cities like Rabat and Tunis. Additionally, there are 4 "Council of Europe Liaison Offices", this includes: There are two main criteria for membership: geographic (Article 4 of
6441-477: The Muslim objections. Other proposals included the flag was the European Movement , which had a large green E on a white background , a design was based on the Olympic rings , eight golden rings on a blue background, rejected due to the rings' similarity with "dial", "chain" and "zeros", or a large yellow star on a blue background, rejected due to its equality with the flag of the Belgian Congo. The Consultative Assembly narrowed their choice to two designs. One
6554-409: The Palais de l'Europe, the House of Europe (demolished in 1977), and came to a provisional end in 2007 with the opening of the New General Office Building, later named "Agora", in 2008. The Palais de l'Europe ( Palace of Europe ) and the Art Nouveau Villa Schutzenberger (seat of the European Audiovisual Observatory ) are in the Orangerie district, and the European Court of Human Rights , the EDQM and
6667-437: The United Nations at many levels, in particular in the areas of human rights, minorities, migration and counter-terrorism. In November 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus Resolution (A/Res/71/17) on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe whereby it acknowledged the contribution of the Council of Europe to the protection and strengthening of human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and
6780-400: The United States), the Anti- doping Convention (signed, for example, by Australia, Belarus, Canada and Tunisia) and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (signed for example, by Burkina Faso, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal as well as the European Community ). Non-member states also participate in several partial agreements, such as the Venice Commission ,
6893-411: The Universal Declaration was essentially aspirational, the European Convention from the beginning featured an enforcement mechanism – an international Court – which was to adjudicate on alleged violations of its articles and to hold governments to account, a dramatic leap forward for international justice. Today, this is the European Court of Human Rights , whose rulings are binding on 46 European nations,
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#17327570247897006-403: The account of its design by Paul M. Levy . The five-pointed star is used on many national flags and represents aspiration and education. Their golden colour is that of the sun, which is said to symbolise glory and enlightenment. Their arrangement in a circle represents the constellation of Corona Borealis and can be seen as a crown and the stability of government. The blue background resembles
7119-412: 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. Both organisations function as concentric circles around the common foundations for European cooperation and harmony, with the Council of Europe being the geographically wider circle. The European Union could be seen as the smaller circle with
7232-413: The case of the Cross of Burgundy , emblem of the "Grand Duchy of the West". (on the official documents, "sky-blue" does not refer to the shade, but to the symbolism of the colour. The French translation, the heraldic description and hatching pattern, and colour illustrations make it clear that the background was azure (blue) and not light blue.) Following Expo 58 in Brussels, the flag caught on and
7345-447: The cathedral's Congrégation Mariale des Hommes , and the twelve stars are found on the statue venerated by this congregation inside the cathedral (twelve is also the number of members of the congregation's council). The Regional Office for Cultural Affairs describe this stained glass window called "Le vitrail de l'Europe de Max Ingrand" (The Glass Window of Europe of Max Ingrand). According to graphical specifications published online by
7458-437: The circle of stars was based on the iconographic tradition of showing the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse , wearing a "crown of twelve stars". Heitz also made a connection to the date of the flag's adoption, 8 December 1955, coinciding with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Paul M. G. Lévy , then Director of Information at the Council of Europe responsible for designing
7571-436: The conclusions of the Congress of Europe, the Consultative Council of the Treaty of Brussels convened a Committee for the Study of European Unity, which met eight times from November 1948 to January 1949 to draw up the blueprint of a new broad-based European organisation. There were two competing schools of thought: some favoured a classical international organisation with representatives of governments, while others preferred
7684-439: The continent, many of them members of the European Movement , who were quietly working towards the creation of the council. Some regarded it as a guarantee that the horrors of war – or the human rights violations of the Nazi regime – could never again be visited on the continent, others came to see it as a "club of democracies", built around a set of common values that could stand as a bulwark against totalitarian states belonging to
7797-421: The convention are incorporated in domestic law in many participating countries. The best-known body of the Council of Europe is the European Court of Human Rights , which rules on alleged violations of the ECHR. The council's two statutory bodies are the Committee of Ministers , which comprises the foreign ministers of each member state, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which
7910-679: The convention as part of the legal system of all EU member states in order to prevent conflict between its judgements and those of the European Court of Human Rights (the court in Strasbourg interpreting the convention). Protocol No. 14 of the convention is designed to allow the EU to accede to it and the EU Treaty of Lisbon contains a protocol binding the EU to join. The EU would thus be subject to its human rights law and external monitoring as its member states currently are. The Council of Europe Schools of Political Studies were established to train future generations of political, economic, social and cultural leaders in countries in transition. With
8023-402: The correct answers, 15% gave a wrong answer (naming another institution, such as NATO or the United Nations), and 35% could or would not identify it. In 2002, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas designed a symbol, dubbed the "barcode", which displayed the colours of the national flags of the EU member states in vertical stripes. It was reported as a replacement for the European flag, which was not
8136-412: The council in 1974. Russia became a member of the Council of Europe in 1996. In 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported separatists in eastern Ukraine , the Council stripped Russia of its voting rights in the PACE. In response, Russia began to boycott the Assembly in 2016, and beginning from 2017 ceased paying its annual membership dues of 32.6 million euros (US$ 37.1 million) to
8249-431: The council's Consultative Assembly, parliamentarians drawn from the twelve member nations, met in Strasbourg for its first plenary session, held over 18 sittings and lasting nearly a month. They debated how to reconcile and reconstruct a continent still reeling from war, yet already facing a new East–West divide, launched the radical concept of a trans-national court to protect the basic human rights of every citizen, and took
8362-403: The country, Russia initiated a voluntary withdrawal procedure from the council. The Russian delegation planned to deliver its formal withdrawal on 31 December 2022, and announced its intent to denounce the ECHR. However, on the same day, the council's Committee of Ministers decided Russia's membership in the council would be terminated immediately, and determined that Russia had been excluded from
8475-660: The crown of twelve stars of the Woman of the Apocalypse , often found in Marian iconography (see below ). On 25 September 1953, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe recommended that a blue flag with fifteen gold stars be adopted as an emblem for the organisation, the number fifteen reflecting the number of states of the Council of Europe. West Germany objected to the fifteen-star design, as one of
8588-499: The current observer states. "Special guest" status was used as a transitional status for post-Soviet countries that wished to join the council after the fall of the Berlin Wall and is no longer commonly used. "Observer" status is for non-European nations who accept democracy, rule of law, and human rights, and wish to participate in Council initiatives. The United States became an observer state in 1995. Currently, Canada ,
8701-546: The end of the war", and think about how to rebuild and maintain peace on a shattered continent. Given that Europe had been at the origin of two world wars, the creation of such a body would be, he suggested, "a stupendous business". He returned to the idea during a well-known speech at the University of Zurich on 19 September 1946, throwing the full weight of his considerable post-war prestige behind it. Additionally, there were also many other statesmen and politicians across
8814-532: The exact design of the new flag. Officially adopted on 8 December 1955, the flag was unveiled at the Château de la Muette in Paris on 13 December 1955. For the flag of the Council of Europe, many stylistic proposals were made in regards to colours and symbolism. These first proposals were made 19 January 1950 by Paul Levy in a letter to the Secretary-General. He proposed that the flag should contain
8927-511: The first steps in a process that would eventually lead to the creation of an offshoot organisation, the European Union . In August 1949, Paul-Henri Spaak resigned as Belgium's foreign minister in order to be elected as the first president of the assembly. Behind the scenes, he too had been quietly working towards the creation of the council, and played a key role in steering its early work. However, in December 1951, after nearly three years in
9040-489: The flag, in a 1989 statement maintained that he had not been aware of any religious connotations. In an interview given 26 February 1998, Lévy denied not only awareness of the Marian connection, but also denied that the final design of a circle of twelve stars was Heitz's. To the question "Who really designed the flag?" Lévy replied: I did, and I calculated the proportions to be used for the geometric design. Arsène Heitz, who
9153-495: The flag, were not included in the replacement Treaty of Lisbon , which entered into force in 2009. Instead, a separate declaration by sixteen Member States was included in the final act of the Treaty of Lisbon stating that the flag, the anthem, the motto and the currency and Europe Day "will for them continue as symbols to express the sense of community of the people in the European Union and their allegiance to it." In reaction to
9266-470: The following Furthermore, several colours were also proposed: In the end, the flag of Europe was chosen to have 12 five-pointed golden stars in a circle over a blue background, probably inspired by the Pan-European flag and other designs such as Salvador de Madariaga's and Arsène Heitz's proposals. [REDACTED] However he agreed that the white ground should be left with a green cross provided
9379-467: The following terms, though the official symbolic description adopted by the EU omits the reference to the "Western world": Against the blue sky of the Western world, the stars symbolise the peoples of Europe in a form of a circle, a sign of union. Their number is invariably twelve , the figure twelve being the symbol of perfection and entirety. Other symbolic interpretations have been offered based on
9492-410: The idea of an organisation which would gather European nations together in a "federal union" to resolve common problems. The United Kingdom's wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill first publicly suggested the creation of a "Council of Europe" in a BBC radio broadcast on 21 March 1943, while the Second World War was still raging. In his own words, he tried to "peer through the mists of the future to
9605-565: The intention. It was not adopted by the EU or any other organisation at the time, but an updated version was used in the visual identity of the Austrian EU Presidency in 2006. The official status of the emblem as the flag of the European Union was to be formalised as part of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe . However, as the proposed treaty failed ratification, the mention of all state-like emblems, including
9718-428: 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. The rules for consultative status for INGOs appended to the resolution (93)38 "On relation between the Council of Europe and non-governmental organisations ", adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 18 October 1993 at
9831-478: The list (such as King Juan Carlos I of Spain , King Albert II of Belgium and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg ) as well as the speeches given by religious figures (such as Pope John Paul II , and Pope Francis ) and several leaders from countries in the Middle East and North Africa (such as Shimon Peres , Yasser Arafat , Hosni Mubarak , Léopold Sédar Senghor or King Hussein of Jordan ). The full text of
9944-446: The members was Saar Protectorate , and to have its own star would imply sovereignty for the region. The Committee of Ministers (the council's main decision-making body) agreed with the Assembly that the flag should be a circle of stars, but opted for a fixed number of twelve stars, " representing perfection and entirety". The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 25 October 1955 agreed to this. Paul M. G. Lévy drew up
10057-422: The most far-reaching system of international justice anywhere in the world. One of the council's first acts was to welcome West Germany into its fold on 2 May 1951, setting a pattern of post-war reconciliation that was to become a hallmark of the council, and beginning a long process of "enlargement" which was to see the organisation grow from its original ten founding member states to the 46 nations that make up
10170-464: The official status of a "logo". This compromise was widely disregarded from the beginning, and the "European logo", in spite of the explicit language of giving it the status of a "logo", was referred to as the "Community flag" or even "European flag" from the outset. The Communities began to use the "emblem" as its de facto flag from 1986, raising it outside the Berlaymont building (the seat of
10283-487: The participation of national and international experts, they run annual series of seminars and conferences on topics such as European integration, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and globalisation. The first School of Political Studies was created in Moscow in 1992. By 2020, 20 other schools had been set up along the same lines, forming an association; a network covering the whole of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and
10396-462: The procedure. Finally, the Committee comes to a decision on the merits. Council of Europe The Council of Europe ( CoE ; French : Conseil de l'Europe , CdE ) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights , democracy and the rule of law in Europe . Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, representing 46 member states, with
10509-494: The ratification of the European Constitution in 2005, and mention of all emblems suggesting statehood was removed from the Treaty of Lisbon of 2007, although sixteen member states signed a declaration supporting the continued use of the flag. In 2007, the European Parliament officially adopted the flag for its own use. The Council of Europe in 1950 appointed a committee to study the question of adopting
10622-533: The realisation of the aim of the Council as specified in Chapter I"). Since "Europe" is not defined in international law, the definition of "Europe" has been a question that has recurred during the CoE's history. Turkey was admitted in 1950, although it is a transcontinental state that lies mostly in Asia, with a smaller portion in Europe. In 1994, the PACE adopted Recommendation 1247, which said that admission to
10735-588: The recommendations of the Adonnino Committee. But as the adoption of a flag was strongly reminiscent of a national flag representing statehood and was extremely controversial with some member states (in particular the United Kingdom, as the proposed flag closely resembled the Queen's personal standard ), the Council of Europe's "flag of Europe" design was adopted, without the letter E, only with
10848-464: The removal of the flag from the treaty, the European Parliament , which had supported the inclusion of such symbols, backed a proposal to use these symbols "more often" on behalf of the Parliament itself; Jo Leinen , MEP for Germany, suggested that the Parliament should take "an avant-garde role" in their use. In September 2008, the Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs proposed
10961-487: The rights of migrant workers and that of the persons with disabilities . States Parties to the Charter must submit annual reports on a part of the provisions of the Charter (be it the 1961 Charter or the 1996 Revised Charter), showing how they implement them in law and in practice. The Charter was revised in 1996. The Revised Charter came into force in 1999 and is gradually replacing the initial 1961 treaty. The Charter sets out human rights and freedoms and establishes
11074-404: The role, Spaak resigned in disappointment after the Assembly rejected proposals for a "European political authority". Convinced that the Council of Europe was never going to be in a position to achieve his long-term goal of a unified Europe, he soon tried again in a new and more promising format, based this time on economic integration, becoming one of the founders of the European Union . There
11187-611: The rule of law, welcomed the ongoing co-operation in a variety of fields. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can participate in the INGOs 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
11300-547: The scope of protected fundamental rights to include social and economic rights . The Charter also guarantees positive rights and freedoms which concern all individuals in their daily existence. The basic rights set out in the Charter are as follows: housing , health , education , labour rights , full employment , reduction of working hours equal pay for equal work , parental leave , social security , social and legal protection from poverty and social exclusion , free movement of persons and non-discrimination , also
11413-492: The sky and symbolises truth and the intellect. It is also the colour traditionally used to represent the Virgin Mary. In many paintings of the Virgin Mary as Stella Maris she is crowned with a circle of twelve stars. In 1987, following the adoption of the flag by the EC, Arsène Heitz (1908–1989), one of the designers who had submitted proposals for the flag's design, suggested a religious inspiration for it. He stated that
11526-456: The speeches is given in both English and French, regardless of the original language used. The archive is searchable by country, by name, and chronologically. Article 1(a) of the Statute states that "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." Membership
11639-406: The text of the Treaty of Lisbon, which was ratified. On the other hand, 16 EU members that year, plus France in 2017, have officially affirmed (by Declaration No. 5224) their attachment to the flag as an EU symbol. The flag is used by other European entities, such as unified golf teams under the rubric Team Europe. The blazon given by the EU in 1996 describe the design as: "On an azure field
11752-569: The version with twelve stars was chosen by the Committee of Ministers meeting at Deputy level in January 1955 as one out of two remaining candidate designs. Lévy's 1998 interview apparently gave rise to a new variant of the Marian anecdote. An article published in Die Welt in August 1998 alleged that it was Lévy himself who was inspired to introduce a Marian element as he walked past a statue of
11865-405: The work of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities as observers. The Statute of the Council of Europe provides for the voluntary suspension, involuntary suspension, and exclusion of members. Article 8 of the Statute provides that any member who has "seriously violated" Article 3 may be suspended from its rights of representation, and that the Committee of Ministers may request that such
11978-470: Was accepted by the Assembly. The design was similar to Salvador de Madariaga's, but rather than a constellation, the stars were arranged in a circle. Arsène Heitz was one of several people who proposed a circle of gold stars on a blue background. None of his proposals perfectly match the design that was adopted. Paul Levy claims that he was the one who designed the template for the flag, not Arsène Heitz. In 1987, Heitz would claim that his inspiration had been
12091-513: Was adopted by the Parliament on 11 April 1983. The June 1984 European Council (the Communities' leaders) summit in Fontainebleau stressed the importance of promoting a European image and identity to citizens and the world. The European Council appointed an ad hoc committee, named "Committee for 'a People's Europe'" (Adonnino Committee). This committee submitted a substantial report, including wide-ranging suggestions, from organising
12204-487: Was adopted in 1950 following a report by the PACE, and followed on from the United Nations ' Universal Declaration of Human Rights ' (UDHR). 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. It is to this court that Europeans can bring cases if they believe that
12317-424: Was an employee in the mail service, put in all sorts of proposals, including the 15-star design. But he submitted too many designs. He wanted to do the European currencies with 15 stars in the corner. He wanted to do national flags incorporating the Council of Europe flag. Carlo Curti Gialdino (2005) has reconstructed the design process to the effect that Heitz's proposal contained varying numbers of stars, from which
12430-520: Was by Salvador de Madariaga , the founder of the College of Europe , who suggested a constellation of stars on a blue background (positioned according to capital cities, with a large star for Strasbourg , the seat of the council). He had circulated his flag round many European capitals and the concept had found favour. The second was a variant by Arsène Heitz, who worked for the council's postal service and had submitted dozens of designs, one of which
12543-413: Was designed in 1950 and officially adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955. The same flag was adopted by the European Parliament in 1983. The European Council adopted it as an "emblem" for the European Communities in 1985. Its status in the European Communities was inherited by the European Union upon its formation in 1993. The proposal to adopt it as official flag of the European Union failed with
12656-481: Was huge enthusiasm for the Council of Europe in its early years, as its pioneers set about drafting what was to become the European Convention on Human Rights , a charter of individual rights which – it was hoped – no member government could ever again violate. They drew, in part, on the tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , signed only a few months earlier in Paris. But crucially, where
12769-596: Was signed into existence on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London , the organisation's founding Statute which set out the three basic values that should guide its work: democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It was signed in London on that day by ten states: Belgium , Denmark , France , Ireland , Italy , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Norway , Sweden and the United Kingdom , though Turkey and Greece joined three months later. On 10 August 1949, 100 members of
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