The Secretary General is elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, upon recommendation of the Committee of Ministers. The Secretary General, appointed for a term of five years, is charged with the responsibility to translate the Council of Europe intentions into concrete actions, to achieve a greater unity between its members, and to safeguard and promote the common ideals and principles, in order to promote economic and social progress among the members of the Council of Europe.
The Secretary General has therefore the responsibility of the strategic management of the work program of the Council of Europe and its budget, overseeing day-to-day functioning of the Organization and the Secretariat.
The Croatian Marija Pejčinović Burić has held the position of Secretary General of the Council of Europe since 18 September 2019. The Deputy Secretary General of the Organisation is Norwegian Bjørn Berge, elected on 1 March 2021.
Italy has had three Deputy Secretaries General in the Strasbourg Organisation: Sforzino Sforza, from October 1968 to December 1977, Gaetano Adinolfi, from June 1978 to May 1993 and Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, elected in June 2012 and reconfirmed on 23 June 2015 for a five-year term starting on 1 September 2015.
The Secretariat is composed of the Secretary-General himself, the Deputy Secretary General, and the secretarial staff appointed by the Secretary-General, in accordance with the relevant administrative rules. No member of the Secretariat can hold any office paid by any national government, or keep any incompatible role; for this reason, every member of staff of the Secretariat, by a solemn declaration, attests that its work is solely at the service of the Council of Europe and is committed to working away from any consideration of national character, by refusing any statement in connection with the exercise of his duties from any government or from any authority external to the Council of Europe.
The main objectives of the Secretariat are:
to ensure the implementation of policy priorities and management of the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General;
to coordinate the activities of the different parts of the Secretariat, to promote cross-working, cooperation and efficiency within the Organization;
to manage the preparation of the official visits of the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General, of the meetings chaired by themselves and their participation of the events inside and outside the Council of Europe;
to provide a secretarial service to the governance structure of the leadership.
