Secretary General of the Assembly

Despina Chatzivassiliou

In January 2021, Despina Chatzivassiliou was elected Secretary General of the PACE, becoming the first woman to hold the post since the Assembly’s creation in 1949. On 30 September 2025, she has been re-elected for a second 5-year mandate.

Before taking up this position, she spent 21 years working with and for parliamentarians across Europe within the Assembly, notably heading the secretariats of its Monitoring Committee and Political Affairs Committee. She began her career at the Council of Europe in 1993, at the European Commission of Human Rights.

She holds a PhD in Law on the European Convention of Human Rights, from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Born in Athens, Greece, on 28 February 1967, Despina Chatzivassiliou is the mother of two children, Ilia and Charles Tsovilis.

Curriculum vitae

Duties

In line with the Assembly's Rules of Procedure, the Secretary General ensures the proper functioning of PACE and the fulfilment of its mandate.

She heads a secretariat of around 100 staff, who assist the Assembly's members – including its President – in carrying out their work, and ensures the smooth conduct of parliamentary proceedings.

Combining political acumen, administrative expertise, diplomacy, impartiality and personal integrity, she also upholds the Assembly’s unique role as a driving force within the Council of Europe.

Achievements

Since taking office, she has worked to ensure that the Assembly fully contributes to addressing today’s major challenges and to strengthening its impact across member and partner States.

To achieve this, she has promoted constructive cooperation with national delegations and political groups, reinforced synergies with national parliaments, fostered stronger collaboration across the Council of Europe, and modernised working methods – including the use of artificial intelligence – with a view to enhancing efficiency and reducing environmental impact.

Promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment has also been central to her work. Thanks also to procedural changes she strongly supported, the representation of women in the Assembly has reached near-parity for the first time in its history. In parallel, she initiated the informal Women@PACE group, bringing together all female members of the Assembly to strengthen solidarity and visibility.