The Council of Europe is an international organization of 47 member states in the European region . One of its first successes was the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950 , which serves as the basis for the European Court of Human Rights . The best known bodies of the Council of Europe are the European Court of Human Rights , which enforces the European Convention on Human Rights , and the European Pharmacopoeia Commission , which sets the quality standards for pharmaceutical products in Europe .