Withdrawal from the Council of Europe

Withdrawal from the Council of Europe is the legal and political process whereby a member state of the Council of Europe rescinds from the Statute of the Council of Europe. Thus, the country in question ceases to be a member of the council. This is done under Articles 7 & 8 in Chapter II of the Statute which mentions membership.[1] It states that any country that wishes to leave must send a notification to the Council of Europe's Secretary General, and the country’s membership would be rescinded by the end of the year.

Not to be confused with Withdrawal from the European Union or Withdrawal from the eurozone.
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As of December 2020, the only country that has formally left the Council of Europe has been Greece on 12 December 1969. However, it re-joined the council on the 28 November 1974.[2] Russia threatened to withdraw from the Council, after the country's membership of the Parliamentary Assembly was revoked in 2014, after the invasion and annexation of the Ukrainian autonomous region of Crimea.[3]

Procedure

According the Statute of the Council of Europe which is also known as the Treaty of London, there are two ways a member state can leave, that is either to be withdrawn or be suspended from the Council. These are listed in the Chapter II of the Statute, which deals with membership of the Council. The first option is simple withdrawal, as stipulated in Article 7. The statute states:

Any member of the Council of Europe may withdraw by formally notifying the Secretary General of its intention to do so. Such withdrawal shall take effect at the end of the financial year in which it is notified, if the notification is given during the first nine months of that financial year. If the notification is given in the last three months of the financial year, it shall take effect at the end of the next financial year.

The article says that if a member state unilaterally wishes to formally leave the Council of Europe, then a member state would send a formal letter the Secretary General, asking that it would like leave the Council. If it is done between the 1 January and the 30 September, the withdrawment would happen at the 31 December on that year. If it is done between the 1 October to the 31 December, then it would happen on the 31 December the following year. Another option is under Article 8, which the statue states:

Any member of the Council of Europe which has seriously violated Article 3 may be suspended from its rights of representation and requested by the Committee of Ministers to withdraw under Article 7. If such member does not comply with this request, the Committee may decide that it has ceased to be a member of the Council as from such date as the Committee may determine.

The article says which is where a member state seriously violated Article 3, the state would be referred to the Council’s executive body the Committee of Ministers, and the Committee would then ask the member state to withdraw under Article 7. If the member state refuses, then the Committee would revoke the member state's membership as and when the Committee decides.

Withdrawment

Greece
See also: Greek case

Greece joined the Council as a member on 9 August 1949. On 21 April 1967, following a military coup, the Greek junta abolished democracy, bringing itself into conflict with the Council of Europe. In September 1967, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands filed an interstate application with the Committee regarding human rights abuses in Greece. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also appointed a rapporteur, the former Dutch Foreign Minister Max van der Stoel, to investigate the situation in Greece.

On 12 December 1969, following the leaking of the Greek case report of the Committee, Greece left the Council of Europe before the matter could be brought to a vote. After the fall of the junta, Greece re-joined the Council of Europe on 28 November 1974.[2]

Contemplated withdrawal

Russia

Russia joined as a full member in 28 February 1996. During the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia militarily intervened and later annexed the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea in March 2014. From this incident, the Council's Parliamentary Assembly on the 10 April 2014 passed a resolution suspending the eighteen Russian parliamentary delegates' voting rights for a year from the Assembly.[4][3] After this Russia threatened to leave the Council in its entirety, and had later withheld its funding payment to the Council totalling €53 million leading to cash crisis.[5] On the 24 June 2019, a resolution led by France and Germany restored the delegates' voting rights and after that, Russia returned the funding to Council.[6][7]

Ukraine

Ukraine joined the Council of Europe as a full member on 9 November 1995. After the 2019 resolution readmitting Russia into the Council after the 2014 suspension, Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin recalled his permanent representative to the Council and threatened to voluntarily withdraw the country in retaliation.[8]

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom was a founder member of the Council back in 1949. After leaving the European Union in 2020, there is speculation that the UK may try to retreat from various international bodies such as the Council of Europe's European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, which could lead to the suspension of the Council.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Statute of the Council of Europe - London, 5.V.1949". Council of Europe. 2020-12-28.
  2. "The Greek Case at the Council of Europe (1967-1974)". Greek Presidency of the Council of Europe. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  3. "Russia delegation suspended from Council of Europe over Crimea". The Guardian. 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  4. "PACE - Resolution 1990 (2014) - Reconsideration on substantive grounds of the previously ratified credentials of the Russian delegation". Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  5. Rankin, Jennifer (2018-03-16). "Human rights body faces cash crisis after clash with Russia". the Guardian. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  6. Reilhac, Gilbert (2019-06-25). "Council of Europe readmits Russia, five years after suspension over Crimea". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  7. "PACE - Opinion 297 (2019) - Budget and priorities of the Council of Europe for the biennium 2020-2021". Council of Europe. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  8. "Russia's undiplomatic return to the Council of Europe". France 24. 2019-06-28. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  9. Giannoulopoulos, Dimitrios (2020-03-04). "The next target in the project to "take back control"? Strasbourg and the Human Rights Act". Prospect Magazine. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
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