Summits / Ministerial Councils

The Ministerial Council, formerly Council of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), meets once a year towards the end of every term of chairmanship to consider issues relevant to the OSCE and take appropriate decisions.

The first meeting of CSCE Ministers of Foreign Affairs took place in Helsinki on 3-7 July 1973. At that meeting, the Ministers endorsed the Final Recommendations, which suggested that the CSCE should take place in three stages. Two years later, in August 1975, the third stage of the Helsinki process culminated in the first CSCE Summit of Heads of State and Government, which adopted the Helsinki Final Act.

Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs

The Ministerial Council itself was established by the Charter of Paris for a New Europe (1990) under the original name of "Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs". The 1992 Helsinki Document reaffirmed its role as the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE and gave it more extensive powers in the field of conflict prevention and crisis management. The 1994 Budapest Document renamed it "Ministerial Council" and fully confirmed its pivotal political role.

During periods between summits, decision-making and governing power lies with the Ministerial Council, whose members are the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE participating States.

The Ministerial Council meetings help to maintain a link between the political decisions taken at the summits and the day-to-day functioning of the Organization, thus providing a point of reference for its other institutions.