On 15th May, 1995, gathered in Lisbon, the French, Italian and Spanish ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs signed together the founding treaty of the European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR); Portugal joined them a few months later. Inspired by the Petersburg Declaration (1992), EUROMARFOR is a strong and military partnership between four European Union nations that are also members of NATO.

For 29 years, the allied naval force has carried out missions of maritime security, humanitarian aid, and crisis management at sea.

In September 2023, Italy took command of the force. The commander of EUROMARFOR is the Commanding Officer of the Italian Fleet, Admiral Aurelio De Carolis.

EUROMARFOR is in fact, an original organization that gathers French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish naval units in an easy and very flexible way.

Considering the wide range of missions that this force may be in charge with, the Force will be assembled on a case-by-case basis and tailored to the mission and assigned tasks, ranging from a small Task Group to a large Task Force including aircraft carriers and amphibious groups, as well as a Maritime Component Command.

It means that this multinational maritime force is a non-standing but pre-structured force that is kept at a high level of readiness and can be activated when necessary, showing itself as an active and useful tool for member states, UE and NATO if/when required.

Currently there are two EUROMARFOR Task Groups activated in the Central Mediterranean, one Escort and the other specialized in mine counter measures operations, in the framework of exercise.

Beyond regular and annual trainings at sea between the four allied navy forces, EUROMARFOR has participated in several important operations during its history. EUROMARFOR has been deployed against terrorism in the Mediterranean Sea in 2002 (Operation COHERENT BEHAVIOUR) and Gulf of Aden between 2003 and 2005 (Operation RESOLUTE BEHAVIOUR), to support United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 2008 (Operation IMPARTIAL BEHAVIOR), against piracy in the Indian Ocean between 2011 and 2016 in support of the European Union (Operation ATALANTA), and again in support of NATO for maritime security in central Mediterranean Sea in 2020 (Operation SEA GUARDIAN).