The European Alliance for Permanent Access was set up as a non-profit organization, initiated as a Foundation under Dutch Law in September 2008. The goal of the Alliance is to align and enhance permanent information infrastructures in Europe across all disciplines. It is a networking organisation and a sustainable centre for advice and expertise on permanent access.

The Alliance brings together seventeen major European research laboratories, research funders, and research support organisations such as national libraries and publishers. All its members are stakeholders in the European infrastructure for long-term preservation of and access to the digital records of science. Through the alliance, they are articulating a shared vision for a sustainable digital information infrastructure providing permanent access to scientific information.