Introduction to Partial Agreements

Conventions and agreements of the Council of Europe must be distinguished from Partial Agreements which are not international treaties bu merely a particular form of co-operation within the Organisation. Partial Agreements allow member States of the Council of Europe to abstain from participating in a certain activity advocated by other member States. From a statutory point of view, a partial agreement remains an activity of the Organisation in the same way as other programme activities, except that a partial agreement has its own budget and working methods which are determined solely by the members of the partial agreement.

According to a resolution adopted by the Committee of Ministers at its 9th Session, on 2 August 1951, and Statutory Resolution (93)28 on partial and enlarged agreements, two conditions have to be met in order to set up a partial agreement:

• an authorisation by the Committee of Ministers for the establishment of a partial agreement; and   

• a resolution setting up the partial agreement which contains the agreement’s statute and is adopted only by those States that wish to do so.

LIST OF PARTIAL AGREEMENTS