The first EMSO ERIC Assembly of Members is being held September 28-29th in Rome, Italy. This is a landmark step for EMSO, as it moves from the planning and interim phases to form a legal entity. This latest advancement is that EMSO is beginning a new level of organisation as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), a form of governance structure for such activities that allows for longer term strategic management of large scale efforts. The EMSO founding members, and therefore its Assembly of Members, include Italy, France, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and United Kingdom, and its coordination office is hosted in Rome.