The Council of Europe has not drafted legally binding law on freedom of movement however a number of recommendations have been made in this area. In May 1998 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Recommendation 1373 (1998) on Freedom of movement and the issue of visas to members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Paragraph 7 of the Recommendation encourages Council of Europe member states to facilitate the obtaining of visas by nationals of other member states whenever they can, reduce the number of nationalities for which visas are required, reduce expenses whenever possible, or even issue visas free of charge.

The Parliament has on numerous occasions recalled the importance of facilitating the free movement of people in Europe, in particular in Resolution 557 (73) on the responsibility of member states of the Council of Europe regarding the free movement of people in Europe and Recommendation 879 (79) on the movement of persons between the member states of the Council of Europe. A motion for a Resolution was put forward and signed by a number of Member States in July 2001 (1) in which the Parliamentary Assembly called upon Council of Europe member states to cooperate in order to ensure that all migrants with legal residence in a member state be allowed to travel to or via other member states and to facilitate freedom of movement for migrants from the host country, directly or via other Council of Europe member states, to the country of nationality of the migrants, in compliance with a fundamental principle of humanity.

(1) See 'Free movement in Member States of the Council of Europe for Holders of Temporary Residence Permits in a Member State', Motion for a Resolution, Doc 9168, 4 July 2001.