Council of Europe (1949): Founding of Europe's Human Rights Body

The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949, when ten Western European states signed its Statute, often called the Treaty of London, at St James’s Palace. Based in Strasbourg, it was the first post-war organisation created to unite European countries around democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and it later produced the European Convention on Human Rights.

Background: the European movement

The Second World War convinced many Europeans that national rivalries had to be contained. In a speech at the University of Zurich on 19 September 1946, Winston Churchill called for “a kind of United States of Europe”, built on a partnership between France and Germany. Federalist groups across the Continent pressed for unity.

In May 1948 around 750 delegates met at the Congress of Europe in The Hague, chaired by Churchill. They called for a European assembly and a charter of human rights. The congress exposed a divide that would shape European politics for decades: federalists, especially in France, Belgium and Italy, wanted a strong supranational body, while Britain and the Scandinavian countries preferred cooperation between sovereign governments.

The Treaty of London

Negotiations among the Brussels Treaty powers and other states produced a compromise. British foreign secretary Ernest Bevin played a central role, and the result reflected British preferences: a Committee of Ministers representing governments, with decision-making power, and a Consultative Assembly of parliamentarians with only advisory powers.

The Statute was signed on 5 May 1949 by Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It came into force on 3 August 1949. Article 1 set the aim of achieving “a greater unity between its members” to safeguard their common heritage and promote economic and social progress. Membership required acceptance of the rule of law and human rights; defence matters were explicitly excluded.

Strasbourg was chosen as the seat, a city whose history of passing between France and Germany made it a symbol of reconciliation. The Consultative Assembly first met there in August 1949, with Belgian statesman Paul-Henri Spaak as its first president.

The European Convention on Human Rights

The Council’s most important early achievement was the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed in Rome on 4 November 1950. Inspired partly by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, it went further by creating a legal mechanism that individuals could eventually use against their own governments.

The Convention entered into force on 3 September 1953. The European Court of Human Rights was set up in 1959, and since 1998 individuals in member states have been able to take cases directly to it. Its judgments have changed laws across Europe on issues from prison conditions to press freedom.

Growth and later role

Greece joined in August 1949 and Turkey, invited at the same time, formally in April 1950; Iceland followed in 1950 and West Germany in 1950 as an associate member, becoming a full member in 1951. Austria joined in 1956 and Spain and Portugal only after their transitions to democracy in the 1970s. After 1989 the Council became a gateway for the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, helping them adopt democratic constitutions and human rights standards.

The Council also adopted the blue flag with twelve gold stars in 1955, which the European Communities later took over. Russia, a member from 1996, was expelled in March 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine, leaving 46 member states.

Common confusion

The Council of Europe is not an institution of the European Union. It is easily confused with the European Council, made up of EU heads of state or government, and with the Council of the European Union, where national ministers meet. The Council of Europe has its own separate court, the European Court of Human Rights, which is also different from the EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg. The Council’s federalist critics, disappointed by its limited powers, turned instead to the approach of the Schuman Declaration, which led to the European Communities.

Timeline

• 1946, 19 September: Churchill calls for a “United States of Europe” in Zurich.
• 1948, 7–10 May: The Congress of Europe meets in The Hague.
• 1949, 5 May: Ten states sign the Statute of the Council of Europe in London.
• 1949, 3 August: The Statute enters into force.
• 1949, August: The Consultative Assembly holds its first session in Strasbourg.
• 1950, 4 November: The European Convention on Human Rights is signed in Rome.
• 1953, 3 September: The Convention enters into force.
• 1959: The European Court of Human Rights is established.

Why it matters

The Council of Europe was the first broad attempt at post-war European unity and remains the main guardian of human rights standards across the continent. Its Convention and Court created one of the world’s most influential systems for protecting individual rights, reaching far beyond the membership of the European Union.