It was on the 15th of May 1995, in Lisbon, that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain signed the Declaration of Lisbon which created a multinational force named "European Rapid Operational Force (EUROFORCE)". Associated to this initiative it was also decided to create a maritime force, pre-structured and non-permanent composed by amphibious, surface and air naval units from all four respective navies. The European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR) already has more than 30 activations and more than 40 months deployed in Real World Operations. The flexible command and structure of EUROMARFOR allows it to be deployed in several types of missions like Humanitarian and Rescue missions; Peacekeeping Missions; Combat Force Missions in Crisis Management, including Peacemaking Missions. Participation in Real World Operations is always the major goal and EUROMARFOR is ready to be AT SEA FOR PEACE !

Portugal holds command of EUROMARFOR until September 2011, the current EUROMARFOR Commander is Vice-admiral José Carlos Saldanha Lopes,the Portuguese Navy.