Council of Europe–European Union relations are the

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

between the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The Council of Europe and the European Union have shared relations since 1992. Almost 180 programmes have been implemented between the two European organisations in areas such as

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, and the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

. All 27 EU member states are members of the Council of Europe, which consists of 46 member states in total. P060349-337061

Issues

Accession of the European Union to the Council of Europe

In May 2005, the Member states of the Council of Europe, meeting in Warsaw, expressed their wish to see the European Union join the Council of Europe and the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

. In practice, the

Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ( or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, this EU ins ...

rulings have already been delivered in such a way as to be consistent with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. This accession is not intended to subordinate the European Union to the Council of Europe, nor even to amend the

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

. This would make it possible to subject to external control the respect for fundamental rights to which the Union's institutions are already subject. The accession of the European Union was to be made possible by the ratification of Protocol 14 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. On 5 April 2013, the European Union and the Council of Europe finalised a draft agreement for the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. In order to be adopted, the draft agreement had to be submitted to the opinion of the EU Court of Justice, followed by unanimous support from the member states for accession, two-thirds support from the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and ratification by the national parliaments of the Council of Europe member states. However, on 18 December 2014, the Court of Justice delivered a negative opinion (No 2/2013) on the accession of the European Union to the ECHR due to legal incompatibilities. The process therefore came to a halt. After this stalemate, some Italian senators put forward a new proposal, based on a partial merger of the two courts. Nevertheless, the European Union has since become a party to some Council of Europe treaties as an "international organisation", such as the Istanbul Convention (acceded on 13 June 2017, ratified on 28 June 2023, entered into force on 1 October 2023). It did so with a declaration explaining the legal competences of the Union on the one hand and the Member States on the other in relation to the Council of Europe and the Convention.

Confusion between the two organizations

The two institutions are often confused, which has led the Council of Europe to try to distinguish itself from the EU. Thus, the Council of Europe website includes a section entitled "Do not get confused" which summarises the various institutional points that need to be distinguished. This confusion is mainly caused by the closeness of the names of their bodies and institutions.

References

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External links

Memorandum of Understanding between the Council of Europe and the European Union

Council of Europe {{Europe-stub

Issues

Accession of the European Union to the Council of Europe

Confusion between the two organizations

See also

References

External links