Council of Europe of the national parliaments of each member state. The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in the member states. The Secretary General heads the secretariat of the organisation. Other major CoE bodies include the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and the European Audiovisual Observatory. The headquarters of the Council of Europe are in Strasbourg, France. English and French are its two official languages. The Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress also use German, Italian, Russian, and Turkish for
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 2005 in order to enhance cooperation with other European liberal and democratic bodies, in particular the ALDE of the European Parliament. Daniel Tarschys (Sweden) was Secretary General of the Council of Europe from 1994 - 1999. The permanent secretariat of the Group operates since 1978, when Mr Peter Kallenberger was appointed Secretary of the Group. After he retired in 2010, Ms Maria Bigday took up the position of the Secretary. The ALDE-PACE Group regularly holds conferences, hearings, seminars and round tables in the framework of the Council of Europe scope of interest. It also co-organises joint events with other European