The Council of Europe and the European Union: different roles, shared values

 


The Council of Europe and the European Union share the same fundamental values – human rights, democracy and the rule of law – but are separate entities which perform different, yet complementary, roles.

Focusing on those core values, the Council of Europe brings together governments from across Europe – and beyond – to agree minimum legal standards in a wide range of areas. It then monitors how well countries apply the standards that they have chosen to sign up to. It also provides technical assistance, often working together with the European Union, to help them do so.

The European Union refers to those same European values as a key element of its deeper political and economic integration processes. It often builds upon Council of Europe standards when drawing up legal instruments and agreements which apply to its 27 member states. Furthermore, the European Union regularly refers to Council of Europe standards and monitoring work in its dealings with neighbouring countries, many of which are Council of Europe member states.

The Lisbon Treaty increased the scope for European Union action in many areas where the Council of Europe already has significant experience and expertise. This has led to increased cooperation on issues such as fighting human trafficking, the sexual exploitation of children and violence against women. It has also opened the way for the European Union itself to sign up to the European Convention on Human Rights, and to other Council of Europe agreements.

Relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union are set out in the:

Atrás Secretary General: countries and international organisations must work together to tackle today’s challenges

Secretary General: countries and international organisations must work together to tackle today’s challenges

On her first working visit to the European Union institutions as Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić has underlined the importance of countries and international organisations working together to tackle modern-day challenges.

Speaking to the EU’s Political and Security Committee, the Secretary General said: “We live at a time of heightened attacks on the very concept of multilateralism.

“But the irony is this: When we think of the great challenges of the twenty-first century, we think of climate change and technology, conflict and migration, violence and discrimination, and terrorism, extremism and radicalisation.

“None of these problems respect national borders. None can be resolved by the unilateral action of any one government alone. All of them have a direct impact on the security of Europe and the people who live here.

“The truth is that their impact reaches us all, directly, or indirectly, and it is only by acting together that we can maximise our capacity to address them.”

During her visit to Brussels, the Secretary General is also taking part in a series of meetings with the President of the European Parliament, David Maria Sassoli, the Executive Vice-President of the EU Commission, Frans Timmermans, Commission Vice Presidents Věra Jourová (Values and Transparency) and Dubravka Šuica (Democracy and Demography) and Commissioners Olivér Várhelyi (Neighbourhood and Enlargement), , Helena Dalli (Equality) and Didier Reynders (Justice).

Secretary General Brussels 6 February 2020
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The Annual Receipts on EU contributions under Joint Programmes between the Council of Europe and the European Union in 2019, amounted to €206.1 million. Co-funded by EU at 85%, by CoE at 15%

29 new Joint Programmes negotiated in 2019 for a total of €111.7 million.

Global Action on Cybercrime (GLACY), video report on a joint project between the Council of Europe and the European Union