The Directorate of Programme Co-ordination helps set the priorities of the Council of Europe activity programme and ensures they are translated into coordinated co-operation programmes in the member and non-member countries. In doing so it makes use of another advantage of the Organisation, the multitude of different Council of Europe services involved in cooperation programmes from their respective angles. As a result, the Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI), the Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity (DG II), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Directorate of Political Affairs and External Relations (DPAER), together with the Council of Europe offices in the field, have a distinct role in defining the cooperation.
The Directorate of Programme Co-ordination ensures strategic programming mainly by country (Country Action Plans). These strategic documents define priority actions with a basis in the monitoring recommendations. They are adopted by the Council of Europe’s governing body, the Committee of Ministers, following consultations between the Organisation and the national authorities concerned.