COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Flag_of_the_Council_of_Europe

The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. Founded in 1949, it includes 47 member states, 27 of which are members of the European Union. All Council of Europe member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. How the Council of Europe & Protected Areas are linked?

The Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is an international organisation (not an EU organisation) in Strasbourg which comprises 47 countries of Europe. It was set up to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe. The European Youth Centres in Strasbourg and Budapest offer training for young people in democracy and human rights issues. The Council of Europe works in close partnership with the European Union, and co-operates with the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and with partner countries in its neighborhood and worldwide.

IT IS NOT AN EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTION, but another international organisation. WARNING ! It is not the European Council and neither the Council of European Union! These two organisations are institutions of the European Union.

No country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe.

EUROPARC and the Council of Europe

EUROPARC works closely with the Council of Europe to contribute to the development and implementation of relevant policies and strategies, to ensure the perspective of Protected Areas from all over Europe is taken into account and to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and expertise. EUROPARC is also contributing to ensure coherence between EU policies and Council of Europe initiatives.

Here some of our main activities with the Council of Europe:

  • Since 2013 EUROPARC has a participatory status within the Conference of International NGOs.
  • Actively contribute to expert group of Protected Areas and Ecological Networks work;
  • Follow from close the development and implementation of the Bern Convention and Landscape Convention;
  • Liaise with the CoE for the Diploma on Protected Areas;
  • Support the work of the Expert Group on Climate Change
  • Since 2021 EUROPARC is the chair of the new Environment, Climate Change, Heritage and Health – ECCH&H – Committee

To discover more:

Drawn by Alberto Floridi

You can learn more about the Emerald Network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest here.

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Bern Convention

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Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention)

You can learn more about the Bern Convention here.

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Emerald Network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest

You can learn more about the Emerald Network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest here.

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The European Diploma for Protected Areas

You can learn more about the European Diploma for Protected Areas here.