Council of Europe

council of western European nations

Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe is the oldest organisation working for European integration. It is an international organisation with legal personality recognised under public international law and has observer status with the United Nations. The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg in France. Having held its first meeting in Strasbourg's University Palace in 1949, its headquarters are in the Palace of Europe, the Human Rights Palace and adjacent buildings about two kilometres from the city centre. 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), the Centre for Modern Languages is in Graz (Austria), and Budapest (Hungary) is the seat of the Youth Centre besides Strasbourg. The Council of Europe maintains offices in Paris and Brussels as well as in the capitals of several other member states.
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The CoE was established 5 May 1949 to promote increased unity and quality of life in Europe. It is located in Strasbourg, France.

This is not an EU institution. It is an intergovernmental organization based in Strasbourg and it aims (amongst other things) to protect human rights, to promote Europe's cultural diversity and to combat social problems such as xenophobia and intolerance. The Council of Europe was set up in 1949 and one of its early achievements was to draw up the European Convention on Human Rights. To enable citizens to exercise their rights under that Convention it set up the European Court of Human Rights.

An intergovernmental political organisation of 43 European democracies, set up in 1949 and based in Strasbourg, France (the Council is not a European Union institution); its main aim is to strengthen political, social, legal and cultural cooperation and to promote human values throughout Europe. (See Website)