The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organisation promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It consists of 47 Member States from across Europe. The Council of Europe's Directorate of Youth and Sport is an important partner for youth organisations.The European Youth Foundation within the Directorate supports transnational youth work aimed at promoting youth citizenship, youth mobility, human rights, democracy and cultural pluralism. It also elaborates guidelines and legal instruments for the development of coherent and effective youth policies at the local, national and European levels.

The European Youth Centres (EYCs) in Strasbourg and Budapest are residential educational establishments where teams of educational advisors provide educational and technical assistance in the preparation, running and follow-up of youth activities.

What is unique about the Council of Europe's youth work is that its programmes and policy orientations are co-managed, which means that young people from youth organisations are equal partners in decision-making. Among themselves the Member Organisations of the European Youth Forum elect a majority of the members of the Advisory Council on Youth, which together with representatives of member states’ governments, the European Steering Committee on Youth, forms the Joint Council on Youth. The Joint Council defines the priorities for the youth activities and youth policy of the Council of Europe.

In the field of youth, the Council of Europe also co-operates with the European Commission on the basis of a Framework Agreement on the Partnership on Youth, and the European Youth Forum is involved in several Partnership activities. Some of the results of the Partnership are, for example, the youth trainer magazine Coyote or the so-called T-Kits.

The European Youth Forum also maintains contacts with the Education Directorate, with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe, and works to strengthen the relation with the Committee of Ministers and the European Court of Human Rights.