Zonta Essentials: The Council of Europe’s cooperation with the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) – valuable partnerships

Through Zonta's Council of Europe (CoE) Committee, Zonta holds participatory status at the Council of Europe, Europe's leading human rights organization. The committee will provide regular updates to enhance members' understanding of Zonta's role with the CoE.

Click here to read Part 8: The Council of Europe’s Global cooperation.

Click here to read the basics and the previous episodes of the series.

Watch the latest CoE webinar on “Being a women’s rights activist - what you should know about the Council of Europe, the continents leading human rights organization”.

Part 9. The Council of Europe’s cooperation with the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) – valuable partnerships.

Part 8 of the Zonta Essentials highlighted the CoE’s Global Cooperation between non-European states and international organizations and bodies. However, the most relevant partners for the CoE are the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN): The EU as the main institutional partner in political, legal and financial terms, the UN as a major ally and ideal platform for the global outreach.

The CoE and the EU have developed a strategic partnership, which draws on a long tradition of co-operation based on their shared values: human rights, democracy and the rule of law. They are separate entities which perform different but complementary roles.

The EU (established 1957) is a political and economic union with 27 member states that creates legally binding laws for its members, while the CoE (established 1949) is an international human rights organization with 46 member countries that focus on upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law within Europe’s geographical boundaries through legal standards and providing assistance. All 27 members of the EU are also member states of the CoE.

The EU often builds on CoE standards when drawing up legal instruments and agreements in areas where the CoE already has significant experience and expertise. This has led to increased co-operation on issues such as fighting human trafficking, the sexual exploitation of children and violence against women.

The CoE treats the EU like a foreign state that can accede to Conventions like the European Convention on Human Rights, the Istanbul Convention and others. These accessions by the EU mark major steps in upholding human rights and in combating violence against women. The EU has numerous sanctions in place against countries and entities for violations of international law, whereas the CoE tries to solve non-compliance by member states through diplomacy and assistance.

The co-operation between the CoE and the UN started with the “Agreement between the Secretariat General of the CoE and the Secretariat of the UN” on 15 December 1951. Since than the CoE has concluded numerous agreements and is working closely with a number of UN bodies and specialized agencies. Consequently, the CoE is invited to participate in the sessions and work of the General Assembly of the UN and its six main committees.

Since 2000 (every second year), the General Assembly of the UN adopts a Resolution on co-operation between the UN and the CoE. This leads to well-established co-operations in the fields of the protection of human rights, the fight against racism and discrimination, the fight against terrorism, cybercrime, corruption and money laundry, the fight against trafficking in human beings and violence against women and children, and many more.

Furthermore, the Permanent Delegation of the CoE to the United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna are contributing to the enhancement of co-operation and the achievement of greater synergy between the two organizations. With its global and overarching political approach, the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development has been highly relevant for the CoE. The CoE’s role as an international organization is to assist and facilitate member states in their contribution to the SDG, the implementation on the national level and in the required reporting system.

The CoE is regularly represented at the relevant UN events, incl. the Regional Forum of the UNECE Regional and the High-Level Political Forum.

Next episode: Council of Europe Summits – united through values

21 NOVEMBER 2025