EUROPE, COUNCIL OF

organization of representatives of 40 European states that seeks to protect democracy and human rights and to promote European unity by fostering cooperation on legal, cultural, and social issues. The Council of Europe was established on May 5, 1949, by 10 founding western European states (Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). These were later joined by 13 others (Austria, Cyprus, Finland, West Germany, Greece, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey). Since 1990, 16 eastern and central European states have been admitted (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine), along with Andorra. The former East Germany became a member as part of reunified Germany. The organization's headquarters are in Strasbourg, France. (The Council of Europe should not be confused with the European Council, which is a policy-making body of the European Union.) As part of its program to harmonize national legislation throughout Europe, the Council has devised about 165 international agreements, treaties, and conventions that have replaced literally tens of thousands of bilateral treaties between various European states. Among the most important of its agreements are the European Convention on Human Rights (1950), the European Cultural Convention (1954), and the European Social Charter (1961). Since the collapse of communism in 198991, the Council has also helped the nations of eastern and central Europe to overhaul and democratize their constitutions, legal codes, and political systems. The Council of Europe is composed of four principal bodies: the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, and the Secretariat. The Committee of Ministers, which meets twice annually, is composed of the foreign ministers of the Council's 40 member states. It decides the Council's budget and its program of activities on the basis of recommendations made to it by the Parliamentary Assembly and various expert committees. The Parliamentary Assembly, which meets four times a year, is a deliberative body consisting of representatives from the national parliaments of the 40 member states. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is a consultative body that serves to represent local and regional governments within the Council. The Secretariat, with a staff of more than 1,000, serves the other three main organizations within the Council. The Council of Europe has also established a number of special bodies and expert committees over the years, such as the European Committee on Crime Problems, European Commission of Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, Cultural Heritage Committee, Council of Europe Social Development Fund (formerly the Council of Europe Resettlement Fund), European Committee on Legal Cooperation, and Steering Committee on Local and Regional Authorities.