Permanent Representative of Sweden to the Council of Europe

On 5 May 1949, the Statute of the Council of Europe was signed at St James's Palace in London. The path to this event went through the Congress of Europe a year earlier. The conference's organizing committee outlined a proposal to establish a Council of Europe, consisting of a Committee of Ministers and a Consultative Assembly. In January 1949, the five states that had previously been part of the Treaty of Brussels—France, the United Kingdom, and the three Benelux countries—endorsed this proposal. A few months later, the Statute of the Council of Europe was signed not only by the Treaty of Brussels states but also by Sweden, among others.{{cite news |url=https://www.svd.se/arkiv/1974-05-29/4/SVD |newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet |title=Europas fönster mot världen |trans-title=Europe's window to the world |first=Arne |last=Fältheim |page=4 |date=1974-05-29 |access-date=20 March 2025 |language=sv |url-access=subscription}}

On 6 November 1953, it was decided that the Permanent Representative of Sweden to the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in Paris, Minister {{ill|Ingemar Hägglöf|sv}}, would also serve as the country's permanent representative to the Council of Europe.{{cite news |url=https://www.svd.se/arkiv/1953-11-07/4/SVD |newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet |title=Minister Ingemar Hägglöf |page=4A |date=1953-11-07 |access-date=20 March 2025 |language=sv |url-access=subscription}} In February 1957, this combined role was revised when Karl-Gustav Lagerfelt was appointed Sweden's permanent representative to the Council of Europe, succeeding Ingemar Hägglöf, who thereafter served solely as head of the OEEC delegation.{{cite news |url=https://www.svd.se/arkiv/1957-02-23/4/SVD |newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet |title=Envoyén K.-G. Lagerfeldt |trans-title=Envoy K.-G. Lagerfeldt |page=4A |date=1957-02-23 |access-date=20 March 2025 |language=sv |url-access=subscription}}

Lagerfeldt, in addition to serving as the permanent representative to the Council of Europe, was also accredited as the permanent representative to Sweden's delegation at the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the European Economic Community (EEC). On 1 April 1971, when {{ill|Arne Fältheim|sv}} was appointed permanent representative to the Council of Europe, the position became independent. The then-permanent representative, Sven Backlund, continued in his role solely for the ECSC, Euratom, and EEC.{{cite book |url=https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/handle/2077/59463/gupea_2077_59463_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |editor-last=Sköldenberg |editor-first=Bengt |title=Sveriges statskalender för skottåret 1972 |year=1972 |publisher=Fritzes offentliga publikationer |location=Uppsala |language=sv |id={{SELIBR|3682755}} |page=362}}

The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to European cooperation, comprising 46 member states and representing over 700 million citizens. Sweden's permanent representation serves as the primary liaison between Swedish authorities and the Council of Europe.{{cite web |url=https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/strasbourg-council-of-europe/about-us/ |publisher=Permanent Mission of Sweden to the Council of Europe |title=About us |date=13 December 2017 |access-date=21 March 2025}}

Its main role is to advance Swedish policies and safeguard Sweden’s interests in the Council's key areas: European cooperation on democracy, the promotion of human rights, and the rule of law. The Swedish permanent representative, a diplomat with the rank of ambassador, serves as Sweden's representative in the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe's highest decision-making body.

The Swedish representation is situated near the Palace of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights building. It consists of six staff members—three assigned by the inistry for Foreign Affairs and three locally employed personnel.

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• {{Official website|https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/strasbourg-council-of-europe/|Permanent Mission Council of Europe, Strasbourg}} {{lang in|sv|en}}

{{Ambassadors of Sweden}}

Council of Europe