Between ministerial conferences, the Expert Level Meeting (ELM) is a decision-making body of FOREST EUROPE.
[2] At every Conference, a joint political declaration is agreed and different resolutions are adopted, in order to develop common strategies for its 46 signatory countries and the European Union on how to protect and sustainably manage forests.
The FOREST EUROPE signatory countries commit themselves to implement at national level the resolutions adopted during the Ministerial Conferences.
The number of signatories has increased over the years, and now account for 46 European countries, as well as the European Union: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Non-European countries and different kind of international organizations take also part in the FOREST EUROPE process as observers.
This is the list of observer countries at present: Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Ghana, India, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States.
The Expert Level Meeting (ELM) is the FOREST EUROPE decision-making body between the Ministerial Conferences.
The meetings provide guidance on the implementation of the FOREST EUROPE decisions and resolutions, as well as the strategic development of the process.
It is also in charge of advising the Liaison Unit about the implementation of FOREST EUROPE decisions and strategic developments.
At the second Ministerial Conference, held in Helsinki, the participants recognized the continuity and guiding of the follow-up of the process in hands of a co-chairmanship and placed a structure of cooperation in the form of the GCC.