The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) was launched on November 23rd 2018 at an event organized in Vienna by the Austrian presidency of the Council of the European Union. This event marks the conclusion of a long process of consultation and study with stakeholders and constitutes a symbolic beginning for the EOSC.

The Vienna Declaration on the EOSC published for the occasion sums up the consultation process by highlighting its most important stages and reiterating the commitments made by member States in the form of various political documents. It also stresses the need to actively support this joint effort to ensure it is implemented harmoniously and successfully. The declaration was approved by acclamation at the event.