The UK's Relations with Europe - the EU and the Council of Europe

Two Europes, easily confused

When people talk about "Europe", they often mix up two very different organisations: the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe. They sound similar, but they do different jobs, and the UK has a different relationship with each. The UK left the EU, but is still a member of the Council of Europe. This module untangles the two and looks at how Brexit changed things.

The key organisations

Four terms to keep straight:

EU and Council of Europe

This is the key distinction. They are two separate organisations.

Match each one

Which did the UK leave?

After the 2016 referendum, which organisation did the UK leave?

• The European Union
• The Council of Europe
• The European Court of Human Rights
• The United Nations

What Brexit changed

Select the TWO ways the UK's relationship with the EU changed after Brexit.

• The end of free movement for EU citizens
• New customs checks on trade with the EU
• The UK left the Council of Europe
• The UK started using the euro

Still part of the Council of Europe

A common mistake is to think leaving the EU meant leaving everything European. It did not. The UK is still a member of the Council of Europe. That means the UK is still part of the European Convention on Human Rights and its court in Strasbourg. The Council of Europe is not an EU institution, so Brexit did not change the UK's membership of it.

Why is Strasbourg still open?

Years after Brexit, a UK citizen takes a human rights case all the way to the court in Strasbourg, and it is heard. How is that possible?

• The court belongs to the Council of Europe, which the UK never left
• The European Union lets former members keep using its courts for rights cases
• Strasbourg is an EU institution, and Brexit did not cover the courts
• The UK signed a new treaty with the EU allowing this after 2020

Europe in words

The _____ is a political and economic union that the UK left in 2020 after a referendum. The _____, a separate and larger body, protects human rights and created the European Convention on _____. A case can still reach its court in Strasbourg today, because Brexit did not touch that membership. Leaving the EU changed rules on travel, fishing, trade and _____. The UK's decision to leave the EU is known as _____.

The road out of the EU

Put these events in the UK leaving the EU in order.

• In 2016 the UK holds a referendum and votes to leave the EU
• The UK and the EU negotiate the terms of leaving
• In 2020 the UK formally leaves the EU
• A new UK-EU trade deal begins, with customs checks

Which belong to the Council of Europe?

The EU and the Council of Europe do different jobs. Tap the TWO statements that describe the COUNCIL OF EUROPE.

• Protects human rights across Europe
• Runs the single market for trade
• Created the European Convention on Human Rights
• Makes EU law in the European Parliament
• The UK left it in 2020

Sort out the two bodies

Use what you know about the EU and the Council of Europe to answer each question.

• Which organisation did the UK leave after the 2016 referendum?
• Which body created the European Convention on Human Rights and still includes the UK?
• After Brexit, EU citizens no longer have an automatic right to live and work in the UK. Which part of the relationship does this change?

Explain the difference

Explain the difference between the European Union and the Council of Europe, and describe how the UK's relationship with the EU changed after Brexit. Write in clear, full sentences.

• Say what the European Union is and that the UK left it
• Say what the Council of Europe is and that the UK is still a member
• Make clear they are two separate organisations
• Give two ways the UK-EU relationship changed after Brexit