Institutions of the Bern Convention
The Standing Committee is the governing body of the Bern Convention. It includes all Contracting Parties as well as observer states and organisations, both governmental and non-governmental, at the national and international level. It usually meets annually at the Council of Europe premises in Strasbourg. The Standing Committee adopts recommendations concerning measures that should be taken to achieve the Convention’s objectives and improve its effectiveness. It also monitors the implementation of the Convention and provides guidance on its further development. Reports of the Standing Committee can be found here.
- Rules of Procedure of the Standing Committee - T-PVS(2022)29
- List of members
- List of observers
The Bureau of the Standing Committee takes administrative and organisational decisions in between meetings of the Standing Committee. It includes the Chair of the Standing Committee, the Vice-chair, the previous Chair, and two additional Bureau members, and is assisted by the Secretariat. The reports of Bureau meetings are made available to Parties and observers.
Composition of the Bureau
Mr Carl AMIRGULASHVILI (Georgia)
Chair
Mr Claude ORIGER (Luxembourg)
Vice-Chair
Mr Charles-Henri DE BARSAC (France)
Bureau Member
Mr Burak TATAR (Türkiye)
Bureau Member
Ms Merike LINNAMÄGI (Estonia)
Former Chair
The work of the Bern Convention contributes to the implementation of the Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment and Action Plan by addressing the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss through multilateral cooperation.
