EPOS ERIC
EPOS, the European Plate Observing System is a long-term 
plan to facilitate integrated use of data, data products, and facilities from distributed RI for solid Earth science in Europe.
On October the 30th 2018, the European Commission granted the legal status of European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) to EPOS. The ERIC legal framework provides EPOS with legal personality and capacity recognised in all EU Member States and with the flexibility to adapt to the specific requirements of each infrastructure.
EPOS will bring together Earth scientists, national research infrastructures, ICT (Information & Communication Technology) experts, decision makers, and public to develop new concepts and tools for accurate, durable, and sustainable answers to societal questions concerning geo-hazards and those geodynamic phenomena (including geo-resources) relevant to the environment and human welfare.
EPOS vision is that the integration of the existing national and trans-national research infrastructures will increase access and use of the multidisciplinary data recorded by the solid Earth monitoring networks, acquired in laboratory experiments and/or produced by computational simulations. The establishment of EPOS will foster worldwide interoperability in the Earth sciences and services to a broad community of users.
EPOS mission is to integrate the diverse and advanced European Research Infrastructures for solid Earth science, and build on new e-science opportunities to monitor and understand the dynamic and complex solid-Earth System. EPOS will identify existing gaps and promote implementation plans with environmental, marine and space science to help solve the grand challenges facing the Earth and its inhabitants.
The EPOS Implementation Phase 2014 – 2019
To accomplish the EPOS mission, a long-term integration plan is necessary. The EPOS Implementation Phase builds on the achievements of the successful EPOS Preparatory Phase and will see the 4-year EPOS IP project and the establishment of the EPOS-ERIC legal entity.
The Implementation Phase project
EPOS IP project implements an operational and sustainable platform of Earth science services.
EPOS-ERIC Legal entity
Since November 2018, EPOS became a legal entity: the EPOS ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium).