Introduction
CEI-Bois, the European Confederation of woodworking industries, was founded in 1952 and represents the interests of the European woodworking industry, which includes more than 350,000 companies generating an annual turnover of 180 billion euro and employing around 2.4million workers in EU27.
The primary goal of CEI-Bois is to further the interests of the European wood sector and to this end, it aims to influence EU policy-making. It is the main body representing and defending the interests of the European woodworking and furniture industries towards the European Union.
The day-to-day management of CEI-Bois is performed by the secretariat in Brussels, supported by a number of working groups dealing with sustainability, xompetitiveness and construction issues. Additional ad hoc working groups are established when needed. A Board and a General Assembly monitor this work.
CEI-Bois is an umbrella organisation regrouping two categories of members: national associations and branch organisations.
CEI-Bois is the natural and well-established representative of the European woodworking industry. It also provides a common European platform and gives a “European status” for the work within international projects e.g. building regulation and standardisation in Japan and China. In this particular case, it has given a mandate to the European Wood Initiative (EWI).
CEI-Bois has set a clear vision and strategy within the Roadmap 2010 for the woodworking industries. CEI-Bois also works closely together with CEPI (European Pulp and Paper Industry), CEPF (Confederation of European Private Forest Owners) and EUSTAFOR (European State Forest Association). Together, they form the “Forest-based Industry Forum” that focuses its work on common strategic issues, among which the Forest-based Technology Platform (FTP).
In 2009, the FTP was transformed into a company (FTP Ltd) with CEI-Bois, CEPF and CEPI as shareholders.