This is because it is the only purely European parliamentary institution in which national delegations representing the 47 member states of the Council of Europe regularly come together (for twenty days per year during the part-sessions in Strasbourg, plus 70 to 80 days' work between sessions on the occasion of the meetings of the committees and sub-committees, not to mention other meetings, such as bureau meetings or those of the Standing Committee).
Ainsi l’Assemblée est-elle la seule institution, laissant de côté le Parlement européen, offrant une telle fréquence et densité d’activités des parlementaires nationaux en une seule enceinte internationale.