The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level, including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations, and the organisation of continental table tennis competitions, including the European Championships.

At a meeting on 13 March 1957 in Stockholm during that year's World Championships, the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) was created by the associations of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Finland, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the USSR, Wales, West Germany and Yugoslavia.

A board of seven was elected, including Frenchman Jean Belot as the first chairman, and the first European Championships took place in Budapest in 1958.

An experimental classification tournament was held in 1971, featuring the top twelve-ranked European players in a round robin-style competition.

In recognition of her outstanding service, she was appointed as the ETTU's first Honorary Life Member.