The first ECE/FAO study of European timber trends and prospects was published in 1953 and had
considerable influence on forest sector policy in the 1950s. The fourth study was published in 1986.
Planning for the present study, known as ETTS V, started almost immediately after the completion of
ETTS IV, when a small team of specialists started to consider data and methodology for outlook
studies.
ETTS V, like its predecessors, has been carried out under the joint auspices of the Timber Committee
of the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the FAO European Forestry Commission, who
defined its objectives and will consider its implications for forest sector policy at their joint session in
September 1996. The Joint FAO/ECE Working Party on Forest Economics and Statistics oversaw the
work and monitored progress, notably by reviewing draft conclusions at its session in 1995.