Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Logo
History
Founded	10 August 1949
Leadership
President	Theodoros Roussopoulos
Secretary General	Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis
Seats	306
Meeting place
Palace of Europe, Strasbourg, France

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The Assembly is made up of 306 members drawn from the national parliaments of the Council of Europe's member states, and meets four times a year for week-long plenary sessions in Strasbourg.

It is one of the two statutory bodies of the Council of Europe, along with the Committee of Ministers, the executive body representing governments, with which it holds an ongoing dialogue. However, it is the Assembly which is usually regarded as the "motor" of the organisation, holding governments to account on human rights issues, pressing states to maintain democratic standards, proposing fresh ideas and generating the momentum for reform.

The Assembly held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, embodying at that time the hopes of many Europeans who, in the aftermath of World War II, saw European unity as the best way of preventing a return to the devastation of war, a "safety net" to prevent gross human rights violations such as the horrors of The Holocaust, and a democratic bulwark against tyranny.

Among the Assembly's main achievements are:

• ending the death penalty in Europe by requiring new member states to stop all executions;
• making possible, and providing a blueprint for, the European Convention on Human Rights;
• high-profile reports exposing violations of human rights in Council of Europe member states;
• assisting former Soviet countries to embrace democracy after 1989;
• inspiring and helping to shape many progressive new national laws; and
• helping member states to overcome conflict or reach consensus on divisive political or social issues.
• adopting the Flag of Europe and the Anthem of Europe, both later taken up by the European Union.

Powers

The hemicycle of the PACE at the Palace of Europe

Unlike the European Parliament (an institution of the European Union), the Assembly does not have the power to create binding laws. However, it speaks on behalf of 700 million Europeans and has the power to:

• demand action from the 46 Council of Europe governments, who – acting through the organisation's executive body – must jointly reply
• probe human rights violations in any of the member states
• question Prime Ministers and Heads of State on any subject
• send parliamentarians to observe elections and mediate over crises
• set the terms on which states may join the Council of Europe, through its power of veto
• inspire, propose and help to shape new national laws
• request legal evaluations of the laws and constitutions of member states
• sanction a member state by recommending its exclusion or suspension

Important statutory functions of PACE are the election of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights, from a list of three candidates submitted by governments, as well as the leading officials of the Council of Europe.

In general the Assembly meets four times per year in Strasbourg at the Palace of Europe for week-long plenary sessions. The nine permanent committees of the Assembly meet all year long to prepare reports and draft resolutions in their respective fields of expertise.

The Assembly sets its own agenda, but its debates and reports are primarily focused on the Council of Europe's three core statutory aims, defending human rights, promoting democracy and upholding the rule of law.

Election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights

Judges of the European Court of Human Rights are elected by PACE from a list of three candidates nominated by each member state which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. A 20-member committee made up of parliamentarians with legal experience – meeting in camera – interviews all candidates for judge on the Court and assesses their CVs before making recommendations to the full Assembly, which elects one judge from each shortlist in a secret vote. Judges are elected for a period of nine years and may not be re-elected.

Although the European Convention does not, in itself, require member states to present a multi-sex shortlist of potential appointees, in a 2004 resolution PACE decided that it "will not consider lists of candidates where the list does not include at least one candidate of each sex" unless there are exceptional circumstances. As a result, around one-third of the current bench of 46 judges are women, making the Court a leader among international courts on gender balance.

Achievements

Birthplace of the European Convention on Human Rights

At its very first meeting, in the summer of 1949, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted the essential blueprint of what became the European Convention on Human Rights, selecting which rights should be protected and defining the outline of the judicial mechanism to enforce them. Its detailed proposal, with some changes, was eventually adopted by the Council of Europe's ministerial body, and entered into force in 1953. Today, seventy years later, the European Court of Human Rights – given shape and form during the Assembly's historic post-war debates – is regarded as a global standard-bearer for justice, protecting the rights of citizens in 46 European nations and beyond, and paving the way for the gradual convergence of human rights laws and practice across the continent. The Assembly continues to elect the judges of the Court.

Originator of the European flag and anthem

The Assembly was at the origin of both the Flag of Europe, the twelve yellow stars on a blue background, and the Anthem of Europe, an arrangement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ode to Joy. Having been proposed by the Assembly, both were adopted firstly by the Council of Europe, and - several years later - by the European Union. Both are now known worldwide as symbols of Europe.

Various proposals for a flag were submitted to the Council of Europe in the early 1950s and on 25 September 1953 the Assembly officially adopted a version with fifteen stars, which represented the number of Council of Europe member states at the time. However "a difficulty arose" in the Council of Europe's ministerial body over the number of stars after West Germany objected that one was for the Saarland region, which was then under French control and did not rejoin Germany until 1957. It would have agreed to fourteen stars, but this was in turn unacceptable to France.

Two years later, after further consultations, the twelve-star version was unanimously approved by both bodies of the Council of Europe, with twelve being regarded as a symbol of perfection, and no longer related to the number of states in the organisation. The institutions of the European Union began using the flag in 1986. After many early discussions, "Ode to Joy" was proposed by PACE as an official European anthem on 8 July 1971, and formally adopted by the Council of Europe in 1972, before being taken up by the EU in 1985.

Ending the death penalty in Europe

In 1973 Swedish PACE member Astrid Bergegren first put forward a motion inviting member states to abolish the death penalty. Momentum built in the following years, and by 1980 the Assembly was calling on Europe's parliaments to abolish it, and insisting that the "right to life" included in the European Convention on Human Rights implied a ban on state killing. In 1989 the Assembly took the decision to make ending executions a condition of Council of Europe membership - just before a wave of central and eastern European nations joined the organisation. Today, the death penalty has been abolished in law in all 46 member states in peacetime, though some continue to allow it in time of war. Though rare calls are occasionally heard for its reintroduction, abolition continent-wide is now regarded as a major achievement of the Council of Europe as a whole, and it now joins others in pressing for abolition worldwide.

Support for emerging democracies

Over the decades, the Assembly has been at the forefront of supporting democratic change in successive waves of European nations at key moments in their history, negotiating their entry into the Council of Europe "club of democracies" (as the Assembly has a veto on any new member joining the organisation, it has used this power to negotiate with applicant countries the conditions on which they join). In the 1950s it led the way in embracing recently defeated Germany, in the 1960s it took a strong stand during the Greek crisis, and in the 1970s it welcomed post-Franco Spain and Portugal into the democratic fold. Above all, it played a key role after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, creating a path towards membership for former Communist countries with its "Special Guest status", paving the way for the historic reconciliation of European nations under one roof

Languages

The official languages of the Council of Europe are English and French, but the Assembly also uses German and Italian as working languages. Each parliamentarian has separate earphones and a desk on which they are able to select the language which they would like to listen to. When foreign guests wish to address the Assembly in languages other than its working languages, they are invited to bring their own interpreters.

Participants

The Assembly has a total of 612 members in total – 306 principal members and 306 substitutes – who are appointed or elected by the parliaments of each member state. Delegations must reflect the balance in the national parliament, so contain members of both ruling parties and oppositions. The population of each country determines its number of representatives and number of votes. This is in contrast to the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe's executive body, where each country has one vote. While not full members, the parliaments of Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, Morocco and Palestine hold "Partner for Democracy" status with the Assembly – which allows their delegations to take part in the Assembly's work, but without the right to vote – and there are also observer delegates from the Canadian, Israeli and Mexican parliaments.

The costs of participation in the Assembly – mainly travel and accommodation expenses – are borne by the national parliament of the delegation concerned. The few members who are appointed as rapporteurs, when they are carrying out work for the Assembly, have their costs covered by the Council of Europe.

Composition by parliamentary delegation

Delegation	Seats	Accession
Albania	4	1995
Andorra	2	1994
Armenia	4	2001
Austria	6	1956
Azerbaijan	6	2001
Belgium	7	1949
Bosnia and Herzegovina	5	2002
Bulgaria	6	1992
Croatia	5	1996
Cyprus	3	1961–1964, 1984
Czech Republic	7	1991
Denmark	5	1949
Estonia	3	1993
Finland	5	1989
France	18	1949
Georgia	5	1999
Germany	18	1951
Greece	7	1949–1969, 1974
Hungary	7	1990
Iceland	3	1959
Ireland	4	1949
Italy	18	1949
Latvia	3	1995
Liechtenstein	2	1978
Lithuania	4	1993
Luxembourg	3	1949
Malta	3	1965
Moldova	5	1995
Monaco	2	2004
Montenegro	3	2007
Netherlands	7	1949
North Macedonia	3	1995
Norway	5	1949
Poland	12	1991
Portugal	7	1976
Romania	10	1993
San Marino	2	1988
Serbia	7	2003
Slovakia	5	1993
Slovenia	3	1993
Spain	12	1977
Sweden	6	1949
Switzerland	6	1963
Turkey	18	1949
Ukraine	12	1995
United Kingdom	18	1949

Parliaments with Partner for Democracy status

Parliaments with Partner for Democracy status, pledge to work towards certain basic values of the Council of Europe, and agree to occasional assessments of their progress. In return, they are able to send delegations to take part in the work of the Assembly and its committees, but without the right to vote.

Delegation	Seats	Population	Population per member	Year Partner for Democracy status granted
Jordan	3	10,954,200	3,651,400	2016
Kyrgyzstan	3	6,586,600	1,097,767	2014
Morocco	6	36,261,700	6,043,617	2011
Palestine	3	5,227,193	1,742,398	2011

Parliaments with observer status

Delegation	Seats	Population	Population per member	Year observer status granted
Canada	6	35,151,728	5,858,621	1996
Israel	3	9,350,580	3,116,860	1957
Mexico	6	126,014,024	21,002,337	1999

Other delegations

The Assembly of Kosovo has been invited to designate a delegation to take part in the work of the Assembly and its committees as observers without the right to vote. On 24 April 2023, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe approved Kosovo's application for membership, allowing the application to progress to the Parliamentary Assembly. On 16 April 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly voted in favour of Kosovo's membership, with 131 votes in favour, 29 against, and 11 abstentions.

Delegation	Seats	Population	Population per member	Year invited
Kosovo	3	1,806,279	602,093	2016

Invited representatives

Two representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community have been invited to participate in the deliberations of the assembly as observers without the right to vote.

Presidents

The Presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have been:

Period	Name	Country	Political affiliation
1949	Édouard Herriot (interim)	France	Radical Party
1949–1951	Paul-Henri Spaak	Belgium	Socialist Party
1952–1954	François de Menthon	France	Popular Republican Movement
1954–1956	Guy Mollet	France	Socialist Party
1956–1959	Fernand Dehousse	Belgium	Socialist Party
1959	John Edwards	United Kingdom	Labour Party
1960–1963	Per Federspiel	Denmark	Venstre
1963–1966	Pierre Pflimlin	France	Popular Republican Movement
1966–1969	Geoffrey de Freitas	United Kingdom	Labour Party
1969–1972	Olivier Reverdin [de]	Switzerland	Liberal Party
1972–1975	Giuseppe Vedovato	Italy	Christian Democracy
1975–1978	Karl Czernetz [de]	Austria	Social Democratic Party
1978–1981	Hans de Koster	Netherlands	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
1981–1982	José María de Areilza	Spain	Union of the Democratic Centre
1983–1986	Karl Ahrens	Germany	Social Democratic Party
1986–1989	Louis Jung	France	Group of the European People's Party
1989–1992	Anders Björck	Sweden	European Democratic Group
1992	Geoffrey Finsberg	United Kingdom	European Democratic Group
1992–1995	Miguel Ángel Martínez Martínez	Spain	Socialist Group
1996–1999	Leni Fischer	Germany	Group of the European People's Party
1999–2002	Russell Johnston	United Kingdom	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
2002–2004	Peter Schieder	Austria	Socialist Group
2005–2008	René van der Linden	Netherlands	Group of the European People's Party
2008–2010	Lluís Maria de Puig [es]	Spain	Socialist Group
2010–2012	Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu	Turkey	European Democratic Group
2012–2014	Jean-Claude Mignon	France	Group of the European People's Party
2014–2016	Anne Brasseur	Luxembourg	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
2016–2017	Pedro Agramunt	Spain	Group of the European People's Party
2017–2018	Stella Kyriakides	Cyprus	Group of the European People's Party
2018	Michele Nicoletti	Italy	Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group
2018–2020	Liliane Maury Pasquier	Switzerland	Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group
2020–2022	Rik Daems	Belgium	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
2022–2024	Tiny Kox	Netherlands	Group of the Unified European Left
2024–present	Theodoros Roussopoulos	Greece	Group of the European People's Party

Vice-Presidents

Period	Name	Country	Political affiliation
2023–present
	Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş	Turkey	Justice and Development Party
	Elisabetta Gardini	Italy	Brothers of Italy
	Pierre-Alain Fridez	Switzerland	Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
	Rik Daems	Belgium	Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats
	Reinhold Lopatka	Austria	Austrian People's Party
	Armin Laschet	Germany	Christian Democratic Union of Germany
	David Morris	United Kingdom	Conservative Party
	Bernadeta Coma	Andorra	Democrats for Andorra
	Bertrand Bouyx	France	Renaissance
	Marco Nicolini	San Marino	RETE Movement
	Tamara Vonta	Slovenia	Freedom Movement
	Olena Khomenko	Ukraine	Servant of the People
	Snježana Novaković-Bursać	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
	Agnieszka Pomaska	Poland	Civic Platform
	Blerina Gjylameti	Albania	Socialist Party of Albania
	Markus Wiechel	Sweden	Sweden Democrats
	Georg Georgiev	Bulgaria	GERB—SDS
	vacant	Slovakia

Secretary General

In January 2021, the Assembly elected Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis as Secretary General of the Assembly, serving a five-year term beginning in March 2021.

She heads an 80-strong multi-national secretariat based in Strasbourg, and is the first woman to hold the post since the Assembly's creation in 1949, as well as the first person of Greek nationality.

See also

In Spanish: Asamblea Parlamentaria del Consejo de Europa para niños

• European Cultural Convention
• Václav Havel Human Rights Prize