In 2001, the European Sea Level Service (ESEAS) was estab-lished as one of the main results of the COST Action 40 "Eu-ropean Sea Level Observing System" (EOSS). The goal of ESEAS is to provide sea-level and sea-level related informa-tion for the European waters to scientific and non-scientific users. ESEAS aims to co-ordinate the long-term monitoring activities and data exchange as well as to enhance exploita-tion of sea-level data and related information. In November 2002, the EU-funded ESEAS Research Infrastructure project (ESEAS-RI) started, and this project is expected to improve both the quality of and access to the European sea level data.