It was designed by the EuroMarine preparatory project (2011-13; funded under the seventh European Framework Programme) as a bottom-up organization and meant to be a voice for the European marine scientific community. It is intended as a durable structure and was established as a consortium for an initial duration of 10 years. A Legal Entity will be established in 2016 as a support structure under the control of the Consortium. EuroMarine initially counted 66 (founding, 2014) member organisations (MOs), 55 of which were 'full voting' members contributing to the 2014 budget.