Zonta Essentials: A historic event at the Council of Europe – The Summit in Reykjavik 16-17 May 2023

In the long history of the CoE, the summit in Reykjavik was only the 4th in the 75 years of existence of the CoE and therefore a very special historic event. It brought together Heads of States and Government from the 46 CoE member states to reaffirm their common commitment to the core values of the Council of Europe and to refocus its mission in the light of new threats to human rights and democracy, and to further support Ukraine.

At the end of the 4th Summit the Reykjavik Declaration - United around our values - was adopted by all 46 member states with the following key points:

  • Reaffirming the core values of the CoE: human rights – democracy – rule of law
  • Reaffirming support for Ukraine and their children
  • Developing tools to tackle challenges in technology and environment
  • Ensuring gender equality against the common backdrop to safeguard human rights

“We recall that gender equality and the full, equal and effective participation of women in public and private decision making processes are essential to the rule of law, democracy and sustainable development. We underline the pioneering role of the Council of Europe, including through the Istanbul Convention, in the fight against violence against women and domestic violence.” Reykjavik Declaration

Council of Europe Summit History:
First Summit 8-9 October 1993, Vienna/Austria
The Vienna Summit was held after the Berlin wall had fallen and number of new democracies had developed in central and eastern Europe. Many of them had joined the Council of Europe and the number of member States of the organization had increased significantly. In view of these developments, the Heads of State and Government of the member states decided to hold their very first summit since the foundation of the Council of Europe in 1949. At the summit, the Heads of State and Government initiated the following action:

  • Adding a new protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights a single European Court of Human Rights was established
  • The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was drafted
  • The European Commission against Racism & Intolerance was created
  • The CoE’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities was founded
  • The European Youth Campaign All different – all equal was launched

Second Summit 10-11 October 1997, Strasbourg/France
By the time the Strasbourg Summit was held, the Council of Europe’s number of member States had once again substantially grown. The organization now had 40 members – exactly four times as many as in 1949. At the summit, the Heads of State and Government inter alia decided to:

  • Create an office of Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Prohibit the cloning of human beings by drafting an additional protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine
  • Strengthening social cohesion in Europe by setting up a specialized unit within the CoE
  • Create the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)

Third Summit 16-17 May 2005, Warsaw/Poland
When the Warsaw Summit was held, the Council of Europe had just reached its current number of 46 member States. At the summit, the Heads of State and Government inter alia:

  • Opened the CoE Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings for signature
  • Established a CoE Forum for the Future of Democracy
  • Decided to prepare the pan-European campaign Stop Domestic Violence to combat VAW, including domestic violence
  • Set the course for the creation of the Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention)
  • Decided to relaunch the successful 1995 Europe-wide youth campaign All different – all equal

Fourth Summit 16-17 May 2023, Reykjavik/Iceland
By the time the fourth summit was held, Europe faced new challenges: Democracy was backsliding, efforts to undermine the rule of law were made even by some member States, and challenges to the human rights protection system were on the rise. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine had brought war back to Europe and led to the Russian Federation’s expulsion from the Council of Europe in 2022, after 26 years of membership. In order to respond to these challenges and set a common course, the Heads of State and Government decided inter alia to:

  • Create a Register of Damage by the Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine
  • Take measures to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the children of Ukraine
  • Adopt the Reykjavík Principles for Democracy
  • Recommit themselves firmly to the core values of the Council of Europe – human rights, democracy and the rule of law, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
  • Ensure the respect for the rule of law, giving more visibility to the Rule of Law Checklist
  • Initiate the Reykjavik process which not only aims to make the environment a visible priority of the Council of Europe in a world which faces a triple crisis of pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity, but also wants to contribute to the development of common responses towards these challenges

14 JANUARY 2026