Table classifying the European organisations according to various key criteria: composition, constituent instrument, aim, organisational structure, seat, etc. (situation on 1 September 2010).

Overview of the principal forms of institutionalised cooperation existing in Europe before the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon amending the founding treaties of the European Union on 1 December 2009: the international organisations created by the European States, the activities that they exercise, the areas of cooperation that such activities fit into (security, economic cooperation and the human dimension) and the interconnections between the different organisations.

Diagrams showing how the European organisations covered by the CVCE have developed and particularly how the number of their members has increased since 1949.

Diagrams showing the development and the composition of security and defence organisations in Europe since 1949 and, in particular, the change in cooperation structures following the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.

On 5 May 1949, in London, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom sign the Statute of the Council of Europe. It enters into force on 3 August 1949.

Consolidated version of the Statute of the Council of Europe, including successive amendments made to the original Statute of 5 May 1949, the last of which date from April 2003.

Interactive map showing the 10 founding members of the Council of Europe in 1949, as well as the 37 subsequent accessions that determined the present composition of the organisation.

On 4 January 1960, in Stockholm, the Ambassadors or Foreign Ministers of Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom sign the Convention establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) which is to enter into force on 3 May 1960.

Consolidated version of the Convention of 4 January 1960 establishing the European Free Trade Association, as amended on 21 June 2001.

Interactive map showing the seven founder members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960, as well as the subsequent accessions and withdrawals that have determined the present composition of the organisation.

On 2 May 1992, in Oporto, the Foreign Ministers of the 12 Member States of the European Communities and those of the seven Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) sign the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The Agreement enters into force on 1 January 1994.

Map showing the development of the European Economic Area (EEA) since the signature of the Oporto Agreement on 2 May 1992.

Chronological table on Member States of the European Free-Trade Association (EFTA) showing the date of their accession or withdrawal from the organisation, as well as the date of the free-trade agreements concluded between them and the European Economic Community (EEC) [to become the European Community (EC) after the Treaty on European Union came into force on 1 November 1993].

The Treaty of Economic, Social and Cultural Collaboration and Collective Self-Defence, signed in Brussels on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It enters into force on 25 August 1948. Although this Treaty provides only for ‘cooperation’ between the contracting parties, ‘which will be effected through the Consultative Council referred to in Article VII’, and it does not provide for the establishment of an international organisation, in practice it leads to the creation of an organisation known as the ‘Brussels Treaty Organisation’ or ‘Western Union’.

Map showing the five founding Member States of Western Union (WU). The Brussels Treaty establishing Western Union is signed on 17 March 1948 and enters into force on 25 August 1948.

The Nine-Power Conference, held from 28 September to 3 October 1954 in London, is attended by the representatives of the five states signatory to the Brussels Treaty and those of the United States, Canada and the two countries invited to accede to the Treaty: the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and Italy.

The Brussels Treaty of 17 March 1948, modified and completed by the protocols signed in Paris on 23 October 1954 which enter into force on 6 May 1955. The Federal Republic of Germany and Italy accede to the modified Treaty. The ‘Consultative Council’ becomes the ‘Council of Western European Union’ (Article VIII), and the organisation established by the Treaty is renamed ‘Western European Union’ (WEU).

In the Declaration (No 30) annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty of Maastricht, the Intergovernmental Conference notes two declarations in which the Member States of the European Union (EU) which are also Member States of Western European Union (WEU) agree to develop the dual role of WEU as ‘the defence component of the EU and as a means to strengthen the European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance’.

Map showing the birth in 1955 of Western European Union (WEU), which succeeded Western Union. As part of the Paris Agreements, the Protocol modifying and completing the 1948 Brussels Treaty was signed in the French capital on 23 October 1954 and came into force on 6 May 1955.

Statement made on 31 March 2010 by the Presidency of the Permanent Council of Western European Union (WEU) regarding the termination of the Modified Brussels Treaty and the closure of WEU (due to take place in June 2011). This statement follows the entry into force of the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, particularly the mutual assistance clause between the Member States of the European Union (Article 42(7), EU Treaty).

Map showing accessions to Western Union (WU) and Western European Union (WEU) and the status of their members. Established in 1954, WEU is the heir to WU, which came into being in 1948 with the signing of the Brussels Treaty. Since 30 June 2011, the WEU as such ceased to exist.

On 4 April 1949, in Washington, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States sign the North Atlantic Treaty. The Treaty enters into force on 24 August 1949.

Map depicting the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949 in Washington and NATO's 12 founding member states. The treaty comes into force on 24 August 1949.

Map showing the member countries and partner countries of NATO in 2005.

On 16 April 1948, in Paris, the representatives of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom and the Commanders-in-Chief of the French, British and US occupation zones in Germany sign the Convention establishing the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which enters into force on 1 July 1948.

On 14 December 1960, in Paris, 18 European countries, the United States and Canada sign the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which replaces the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC).

On 14 December 1960, in Paris, 18 European countries, the United States and Canada sign the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which replaces the OEEC.