Forgotten World (215): Council of Europe
The Council of Europe – headquartered in Strasbourg, France – is not to be confused with the European Union. The Council was formed in 1949 to promote human rights on the continent, while the European Union – as it is now called – was created in 1957 to encourage economic and political union. The EU now has 27 Member States, but the Council has 47, including every European country except Belarus.
The greatest achievement of the Council of Europe is the European Convention on Human Rights – often wrongly associated with the European Union. The last Labour Government incorporated the provisions of the Convention into UK domestic law which means that it can be enforced in British courts, but the Conservative Party has called for it to be replaced by a specifically British Bill of Rights.