Relations with the EU
OSCE
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Introduction
All EU Member States are participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The OSCE comprises 57 participating States from Europe, North America, and Central Asia, spanning a geographical area from Vancouver to Vladivostok. All participating States enjoy equal status, with decisions made by consensus on a politically but not legally binding basis.
Established in 1975 with the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, the OSCE—originally the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)—adopts a comprehensive and cross-dimensional approach to security. Its work is organised into three "dimensions":
- Politico-Military Dimension – Focusing on military transparency, arms control, and conflict prevention.
- Economic and Environmental Dimension – Promoting economic development and the sustainable management of natural resources, as well as climate change and the climate-biodiversity-security nexus.
- Human Dimension – Ensuring respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy, and the rule of law.
The OSCE also addresses transnational threats such as cybersecurity, disinformation and the fight against terrorism, showcasing its adaptability to evolving challenges.
To support participating States in meeting their commitments, the OSCE operates three autonomous institutions:
- Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), based in Warsaw, which focuses on human rights, elections, and democratic governance.
- High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), based in The Hague, which works to prevent inter-ethnic tensions.
- Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), based in Vienna, which monitors media freedom and promotes free expression.
The OSCE remains a vital forum for conflict resolution and confidence-building. It plays a key role in addressing protracted conflicts in Georgia, Moldova, as well as between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Additionally, the OSCE has been actively involved in Ukraine, including through the Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) in order to address the immediate challenges to civilians posed by the war against Ukraine, and to support the long-term democratic and social resilience of its institutions and civil society.
OSCE facts and figures
57 participating States: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America (USA), Uzbekistan.
The OSCE maintains special relations with a number of countries in the Mediterranean region, in Asia, and Australia, which are known as Partners for Co-operation and have observer status. The Partners are: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Australia.
OSCE Chairmanship in Office (CiO)
- 2013: Ukraine
- 2014: Switzerland
- 2015: Serbia
- 2016: Germany
- 2017: Austria
- 2018: Italy
- 2019: Slovakia
- 2020: Albania
- 2021: Sweden
- 2022: Poland
- 2023: North Macedonia
- 2024: Malta
- 2025: Finland
- 2026: Switzerland
OSCE Permanent Council
Meets in Vienna
OSCE Secretariat
- Secretary General: Feridun Sinirlioğlu (Türkiye, December 2024)
- Headquarters: Vienna
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
- President (since 2023): Pia Kauma (Finland)
- Secretary General: Roberto Montella
- Headquarters (Secretariat): Copenhagen
- Website
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
- Director: Maria Telalian (Greece, December 2024)
- Headquarters: Warsaw
- Website
Office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities
- High Commissioner on National Minorities: Christophe Kamp (Netherlands, December 2024)
- Headquarters: The Hague
- Website
Office of the OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media
- OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media: Jan Braathu (Norway, December 2024)
- Headquarters: Vienna
- Website
13 OSCE Field Operations:
- OSCE Presence in Albania
- OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina
- OSCE Mission in Kosovo
- OSCE Mission to Montenegro
- OSCE Mission to Serbia
- OSCE Mission to Skopje
- OSCE Mission to Moldova
- Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office on the conflict dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference
- OSCE Centre in Ashgabat
- OSCE Programme Office in Astana
- OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek
- OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe
- OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan
More information about the OSCE can be found here.
EU co-operation with the OSCE
Article 21 (2.c) of the Lisbon Treaty states that "the Union shall define and pursue common policies and actions, and shall work for a high degree of cooperation in all fields of international relations, in order to preserve peace, prevent conflicts and strengthen international security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, with the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and with the aims of the Charter of Paris, including those relating to external borders."
The EU and the OSCE share a strong interest to co-operate on security-related discussions and conflict prevention in Europe and co-operate closely at all levels, including in the field. The EU and the OSCE pursue a permanent political dialogue among their members and coordinate efforts in pursuing common objectives and finding shared solutions. The agendas of the two organisations overlap to a considerable degree.
In 2018, the EU and the OSCE exchanged letters, at the level of Secretary General, agreeing to strategically strengthen their institutional interaction, as well as their operational co-operation in areas of common interest across the three dimensions.
The EU actively supports this comprehensive and co-operative approach to security. As the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU grows in importance and effectiveness, especially with the development of a European Security and Defence Policy and of a crisis prevention and civilian crisis management capacity, the co-operation between the EU and the OSCE increases. The EU also greatly values the role of OSCE field operations and the autonomous OSCE institutions.
EU Member States contribute more than two thirds of the OSCE's main budget and the EU and EU Member States also contribute to the funding of a number of OSCE implemented extra-budgetary projects. Examples of EU support for the OSCE include assistance for the ODIHR in developing national electoral and human rights institutions and crisis management, for instance in the Western Balkans.
The EU Delegation to the International Organisations in Vienna coordinates the EU policies in the OSCE on a day-to-day basis and represents the EU in the OSCE.
The role of the EU in the OSCE
The role of the EU in the OSCE has never been formally defined in a comprehensive manner. For a long time, the participation of the European Commission (before the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in December 2009) in OSCE proceedings was simply based on established practices, most of which dated back to the preparatory negotiations of the Helsinki Final Act in 1975, in which the Commission was already involved. This participation was formalised only in November 2006 when OSCE Ministers adopted the Rules of procedure of the organization.
The basic justification for EU participation in OSCE proceedings stems from the fact that the legal competence concerning some issues addressed by the OSCE has been transferred from EU Member States to the EU. Hence, already the Helsinki Final Act was signed by Prime Minister Aldo Moro "as Prime Minister of the Italy and in his capacity as President of the Council of the European Communities" (so-called Moro Declaration). The other two key OSCE basic documents, the Charter of Paris (1990) and the Charter for European Security (1999) were signed directly by the respective Presidents of the Commission Jacques Delors and Romano Prodi.
Key features of the EU’s participation
The key features of the EU's participation in the OSCE are:
The Delegation of the EU is regarded as being part of the Delegation of the OSCE participating State holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU. As such the Delegation is participating in all proceedings unless the issue under discussion clearly falls fully outside the scope of the EU.
As the EU has its own Ambassador/Permanent Representative accredited to the OSCE, it is, in principle, treated as an individual OSCE participating State as concerns protocol issues, and as regards the circulation of documents or other information or invitations.
In all OSCE decision-making bodies, including on Ministerial and Head of State and Government level, the EU has a seat reserved beside the country holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU (in non-decision-making bodies the question does not arise as the OSCE practices 'free seating').
In cases where the issue under discussion mainly falls under the competence of the European Community, the Delegation of the EU, representing also the Commission, can intervene in the same way as an OSCE participating State.
In OSCE decision-making bodies, where the EU is speaking 'with one voice', the EU Delegation may speak on behalf of all EU Member States.
In non-decision-making bodies, the Delegation usually coordinates the position of all EU Member States and presents it in meetings.
At meetings at the levels of Ministers or Heads of State and Government, the EU High Representative or the Presidents of the Council or Commission intervene.
In particular through its Delegation accredited to the OSCE, the EU has developed close contacts both with other OSCE Delegations and with all OSCE Institutions, notably the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna as well as the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw. Although the EU as such cannot contribute to the Unified Budget of the OSCE, it has become in recent years a big donor of extra-budgetary contributions for a large variety of programmes and projects.
The close relations between the EU and the OSCE are also maintained through regular meetings, from EU-OSCE Ministerial Political Dialogue meetings to PSC-level Political Dialogues and staff-to-staff talks. At field level, there are regular contacts between the OSCE field missions and the respective EU Delegations, as well as the CSDP Missions of the EU. In addition, the EU works with the OSCE and other partners in the conflict resolution processes in Moldova and in Georgia.