The European institutions in Strasbourg
Strasbourg is home to several European institutions. Do you know them?
The European Parliament
The European Parliament is the legislative body of the European Union, with its headquarters in Strasbourg. It is the only international institution whose members are directly elected by universal suffrage. Together with the Council of the European Union, it is actively involved in the drafting of European legislation via its examination of proposed regulations and directives submitted to it by the European Commission. It also acts as a political watchdog over all the EU institutions.
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The European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is an international court established in 1959. It rules on individual or state applications alleging violations of the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.
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The Council of Europe
Founded in 1949 by the Treaty of London and based in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. It has 47 member states, of which 28 are members of the European Union. All Council of Europe member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
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The EDQM - European Pharmacopoeia
The building of the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare (EDQM) is located to the rear of the Agora building. It was designed by architects of the Brussels-based Art & Build and of Denu et Paradon from Strasbourg, and was inaugurated in March 2007. It houses laboratories, offices and meeting rooms that serve the Council of Europe’s expanding role in monitoring the quality of medicines in Europe and further afield.
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Eurocorps
Located in Strasbourg, the European Corps was founded in 1992 by France and Germany, who form its framework nations together with Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg. Greece, Turkey, Italy and Poland are also represented as associated nations. Eurocorps can be called on to meet the security and defence needs of the European Union, NATO, the UN, the OSCE or the framework nations. It has already been deployed in missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1998), Kosovo (2000) and twice in Afghanistan (2004 and 2012).
The European Ombudsman
The European Ombudsman is an independent office that is empowered to hold the EU administration to account. It investigates cases of maladministration in the activities of all the EU’s institutions and bodies. Any citizen or resident of the EU as well as companies, associations and other bodies with a registered office in the EU can lodge a complaint with the European Ombudsman. The office was established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992.
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The Central Commission for Navigation of the Rhine
Dating back to the Congress of Vienna (1815), the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine is the oldest international organisation in modern history.
Its legal foundation is the Revised Convention for Navigation on the Rhine – referred to as the Mannheim Document – of 17 October 1868.
The Central Commission is an up-to-date international institution with an administration that enables it to address effectively all the issues concerning inland navigation.
It promotes the development of close cooperation with the other international organisations working in the field of European transport policy and with non-governmental organisations active in the field of inland navigation.