The EUREF Permanent Network (EPN) is a voluntary federation of over 100 self-funding agencies, universities, and research institutions in more than 30 European countries. They work together to maintain the European Terrestrial Reference System (ETRS89) which is the single Europe-wide standard coordinate reference system adopted by the European Commission (ref COGI action decision 2003 - F/GIS/69/EN). In addition, the INSPIRE Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services established - among other requirements - that the ETRS89 shall be used for the referencing of spatial data sets in INSPIRE.

The ETRS89 is realized under the umbrella of EUREF by making publicly available the precise ETRS89 coordinates and GNSS observation data of a network of more than 200 permanent operating GNSS observing stations distributed over the European continent. This realization not only provides static, but furthermore kinematic information of spatial referencing. The ETRS89 geodetic reference is widely used in continental Europe. Furthermore the increasing use of GNSS networks incline countries to use the ETRS89.

Next to its key role in the maintenance of the ETRS89, the EPN data are also used for a wide range of scientific applications such as the monitoring of ground deformations, sea level, space weather and numerical weather prediction.

In response to evolving user needs and the changing GNSS landscape, EUREF is working for the continuous development of new applications and products through Working Groups and Pilot Projects.