Council of Europe
RI Europe meeting
3 April 2017 London
Council of Europe
 The Council of Europe was founded in 1949.
 It is the continent’s leading human rights
organisation.
 The Council includes 47 member states, 28
of which are members of the European
Union.
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.
Palais de l‘Europe in Strasbourg
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The Council of Europe has its headquarters in
Strasbourg and it employs 2200 people.
The Palais de l'Europe is the Council of
Europe's principal building.
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.
Secretary General
 The Secretary General of the Council of
Europe is Thorbjørn Jagland (Norway).
 The Secretary General has the overall
responsibility for the strategic management
of the organisation.
 The Deputy Secretay General is Gabriella
Battaini-Dragoni (Italy).
 In 2001 she became the first female Director
General in the organisation’s history.
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.
Values: Human rights, democracy, rule of law
 The Council of Europe advocates freedom of
expression and of the media, freedom of
assembly, equality, and the protection of
minorities.
 It has launched campaigns on issues such as
child protection and online hate speech.
 The Council of Europe promotes human
rights through international conventions.
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.
Structure - 1
 The Committee of Ministers is the Council of
Europe’s statutory decision-making body.
 It is made up of the Ministers for Foreign
Affairs of all member States.
 The Parliamentary Assembly provides a
democratic forum for debate.
 It consists of 324 members of parliament
from the 47 member states.
 The Assembly elects the Secretary General,
the Human Rights Commissioner and the
judges to the European Court of Human
Rights.
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.
Structure - 2
 The Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities is responsible for strengthening
local and regional democracy.
 The European Court of Human Rights is the
permanent judicial body which guarantees
for all Europeans the rights safeguarded by
the European Convention on Human Rights.
 The Human Rights Commissioner is Nils
Muižnieks (Latvian).
 He independently addresses and brings
attention to human rights violations.
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.
Structure - 3
 The meetings of the Conference of INGOs are
a platform for dialogue with the bodies of
the Council of Europe.
 The Conference includes some 300 INGOs.
 Rehabilitation International (RI) is one of
them.
 The Conference brings the voice of civil
society to the Council and works to promote
participatory democracy.
 The INGOs act as multipliers of the Council
standards and values all over Europe.
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.
More information
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The current president of the Conference of INGOs is Anna
Rurka.
In January the thematic debate was about “The information
society”.
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.
Thank you very much for your attention
Dr. Regina Ernst
Deputy RI National Secretary for Germany
Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Rehabilitation e.V. (BAR)
Solmsstraße 18
60486 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Phone: + 49 69 / 60 50 18 16
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Regina Ernst, BAR e. V.