1971 IIHF European Championship (WFAC)

The 1960 IIHF European Championship was the 47th European ice hockey championships arranged by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the first independent tournament since the 1932 edition. The tournament was held in Stockholm, Sweden.

As the World Championships, teams participated at three levels of competition.

Background
Between 1910–1914 and 1921–1932, the Ice Hockey European Championship had existed as an annual ice hockey tournament for European countries associated to the International Ice Hockey Federation. Independent championship tournaments were organized between 1910 and 1927, and European Championships medals were awarded to the European participants of the World Championships until 1969. There were independent championships again in 1929 and 1932.

Following Canada's wish to allow any player to represent their team regardless of amateur or professional status, the IIHF announced several changes at the 54th IIHF Congress on 24–28 May 1970: the World Championships moved to an open format that allowed professionals to participate, while the Olympic ice hockey tournament would remain an amateur tournament. Taking inspiration from soccer's FIFA World Cup, Šubrt proposed that the tournament should be played every four years, and arrange them in alternating even-numbered years with the Winter Olympics. To keep competitiveness of the major European hockey nations as well as advance the game in smaller countries, an European Championship would be played every two years in alternating uneven-numbered years between the World Championships and the Winter Olympics.

Qualified teams
The five teams of the 1969 was automatically qualified for the tournament, along with the United States, who had originally been relegated Pool B after losing all ten games. As Pool A was expanded from six to eight teams, the 1969 Pool B winner West Germany and runner-up Norway were also qualified for the 1970 Pool A tournament.