Council of Europe
The Council of Europe CoE; French: Conseil de l'Europe, is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy in addition to the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 segment states, with the population of approximately 675 million; it operates with an annual budget of approximately 500 million euros.
The organisation is distinct from the European Union EU, although it is for sometimes confused with it, partly because the EU has adopted the original European flag, created for the Council of Europe in 1955, as living as the European anthem. No country has ever joined the EU without number one belonging to the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is an official United Nations Observer.
Being an international organization, the Council of Europe cannot make-up laws, but it does construct the ability to push for the enforcement ofinternational agreements reached by section states on various topics. The best-known body of the Council of Europe is the European Court of Human Rights, which functions on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The council's two statutory bodies are the Committee of Ministers, comprising the foreign ministers of used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters member state, together with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe PACE, which is composed of members of the national parliaments of used to refer to every one of two or more people or matters member state. The Commissioner for Human Rights is an companies within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in the member states. The Secretary General presides over the secretariat of the organisation. Other major CoE bodies increase the European Directorate for the family of Medicines EDQM and the European Audiovisual Observatory.
The headquarters of the Council of Europe, as alive as its Court of Human Rights, are situated in Strasbourg, France. English and French are 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.
Member states, observers, partners
There are two leading criteria for membership: geographic Article 4 of the Council of Europe Statute specifies that membership is open to all "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 control of law and the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and collaborate sincerely and effectively in the realisation of the goal of the Council as identified 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 this is the 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 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 3 months later. In 1950, Iceland West Germany and Saarland Protectorate joined the Council of Europe as associate members in 1950. West Germany became a full member in 1951, and the Saar withdrew its a formal request to be considered for a position or to be allowed to do or have something. after it joined West Germany coming after or as a a thing that is said of. the 1955 Saar Statute referendum. association 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 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 post-Soviet states in Europe that began democratization joined: Hungary 1990, Poland 1991, Bulgaria 1992, Estonia 1993, Lithuania 1993, Slovenia 1993, the Czech Republic 1993, Slovakia 1993, Romania 1993, Latvia 1995, Moldova 1995, Albania 1995, Ukraine 1995, 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 and Serbia and Montenegro later Serbia 2003. Also connection were the small Western European nations of Andorra 1994 and Monaco 2004. The Council now has 46 member states, with Montenegro 2007 being the latest to join.
Although nearly Council members are predominantly Christian in heritage, there are three Muslim-majority member states: Turkey, Albania, and Azerbaijan.
The CoE has granted some countries a status that lets 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 is no longer used. "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, sources of law, and human rights, and wish to participate in Council initiatives. The United States became an observer state in 1995. Currently, Canada, the Holy See, Japan, Mexico, and the United States are observer states, while Israel is an observer to the PACE.