The EUREF Permanent GNSS Network (EPN) is a network of continuously operating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reference stations that provides the geodetic infrastructure for Europe. Established in 1996, the EPN ensures the consistent and precise realization of the European Terrestrial Reference System 1989 (ETRS89), the official geodetic reference frame for Europe.

The EPN is organized under the EUREF Sub-Commission of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and operates as a voluntary collaboration among more than one hundred agencies, universities, and research institutions across over the European continent and adjacent regions.
Each participating organization contributes by operating GNSS stations, data centres, or analysis centres, and by providing the resources necessary to maintain the network's long-term stability and performance.

Objectives

• Maintain and densify the European realization of the global terrestrial reference frame (ETRS89).
• Provide high-quality GNSS data and products for scientific and practical applications.
• Support geodetic, geophysical, and meteorological research and operational services.
• Contribute to the International GNSS Service (IGS) as the European regional network.

Data and Products

The EPN provides openly accessible GNSS observation data and derived products such as station coordinates, velocities, and tropospheric parameters. These products are essential for a wide range of applications, including:

• Geodetic reference frame maintenance
• Crustal deformation and geodynamics studies
• Sea level and climate change monitoring
• Meteorology and space weather modelling
• Surveying and mapping

European and Global Context

The EPN forms the European regional component of the International GNSS Service (IGS) global infrastructure and plays a key role in maintaining the European reference frame in alignment with the global International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF).
It also supports European spatial data infrastructure initiatives, including the INSPIRE Directive (2007/2/EC), by providing the geodetic basis for referencing all spatial data to ETRS89.