Founded in 1967, Ciett wasestablished as a non-profit association under Belgian law in 2006. The Ciett constitution, largely revised in 2006, establishes the Ciett General Assembly, Board, President and standing committees as main bodies of the confederation.

The General Assembly is the highest decision-making body, in which each Ciett Member is represented and has the right to vote. The General Assembly may delegate its power to the Board and/or Secretariat. The General Assembly defines the strategy and priorities of the confederation, reviews the progress achieved with regard to the main public affairs priorities, sets up the confederations budget and membership contribution table, elects the Ciett Board, decides on membership applications and other membership issues, amends the constitution if required and reviews the activities of the Board.

The Board comrises of 15 members, elected by the General Assembly. The Board is in charge of the day-to-day operations and activities, and the management of the confederation. This includes especially the implementation of the confederation’s action plan, the implementation of the budget and the financial management, the follow-up of applications and membership issues and the invitation to ordinary and extraordinary General Assemblies.

The Corporate Members Committee and the National Federations Committee have been established as standing committees of Ciett, furthermore a non-standing Membership Development Network has been set up.