The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is the oldest organisation working for European integration with a particular emphasis on legal standards and protection of human rights, democratic development and the rule of law in Europe. It is an international organisation with legal personality recognised under public international law that serves 800 million Europeans in 47 member states.

At the heart of the Council of Europe lies the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights through which the convention is enforced. It is to this court that Europeans can bring cases if they believe that a member country has violated their rights. The Council of Europe's work has resulted in standards, charters and conventions to facilitate cooperation between European countries and further integration.

The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg (France). Its first meeting was held in Strasbourg's University Palace in 1949, its headquarters are in the Palace of Europe, with the Human Rights Palace and adjacent buildings close to the city centre. The Council of Europe Development Bank has its seat in Paris, the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe is established in Lisbon (Portugal), and the Centre for Modern Languages is in Graz (Austria). The European Youth Centre is situated in Budapest (Hungary) and also has a branch in Strasbourg. The Council of Europe maintains offices in Paris and Brussels as well as in the capitals of several other member states.

English and French are its two official languages (in French, it is known as Conseil de l'Europe). Its two statutory bodies, the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly, also work in German, Italian and Russian.