About Conventions and Agreements in the Council of Europe Treaty Series (CETS)

The Statute of the Council of Europe, signed in London on 5 May 1949, after declaring the aim of the Organisation, states in Article 1, paragraph b:

"This aim shall be pursued through the organs of the Council by discussion of questions of common concern and by agreements and common action in economic, social, cultural, scientific, legal and administrative matters and in the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

European Conventions and Agreements are prepared and negotiated within the institutional framework of the Council of Europe. Negotiation culminates in a decision of the Committee of Ministers establishing ne varietur the text of the proposed treaty. It is then agreed to open the treaty for signature by member States of the Council. European Conventions and Agreements, however, are not statutory acts of the Organisation; they owe their legal existence simply to the expression of the will of those States that may become Parties thereto, as manifested inter alia by the signature and ratification of the treaty.

Once a "Convention"or an "Agreement" is concluded, they have the same legal effect. The only distinguishing feature is the form in which a State may express its wish to be bound by one or the other. While a European Convention is usually the object of the deposit of an instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, a European Agreement may be signed with or without reservation as to ratification, acceptance or approval. Moreover, the model final clauses adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 1963 and revised in 1980 contain clauses regarding the procedure whereby non-member States of the Council of Europe may become Parties to European Conventions or Agreements; in principle, these clauses enable them only to accede.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe is made the depositary of European Conventions and Agreements. The originals of these treaties are kept by him; as a rule, he presides over their signature, and with him are deposited the instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession. It is he who is responsible for the notifications prescribed in the final clauses, and who arranges for registration with the Secretariat of the United Nations.

Following the practice instituted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 1965, explanatory reports have been published on some of the treaties. These reports, prepared by the committee of experts instructed to elaborate the European Convention or Agreement in question and published with the authorisation of the Committee of Ministers, might facilitate the application of the provisions of the respective treaties, although they do not constitute instruments providing an authoritative interpretation of them.

The publications of the "Council of Europe Treaty Series" and the explanatory reports are payable and may be obtained from:

Council of Europe Publishing
Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
Fax: (33) 03 88 41 39 10
E-mail: publishing@coe.int
Website: http://book.coe.int 

For more information, you may find it useful to consult our publication "Treaty-making in the Council of Europe".