Plans for linking Europe's existing biobanks were unveiled at the European Parliament on May 28. The announcement took stock of the progress made so far toward creating a pan-European Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure (BBMRI), a project that one BBMRI coordinator, Kurt Zatloukal of the Medical University of Graz in Austria, describes as “the biggest initiative in the life sciences in Europe.” The EU is providing €5 million for the BBMRI's preparatory phase, which focuses on technical harmonization as well as the legal, governance and financial resources necessary for building on existing biobanks. As Zatloukal describes: “Europe is in a very good starting position for developing this field. There are already some very good biobank initiatives in place, and the structure of the health-care system provides an opportunity to collect high-quality human biological samples and data and to integrate biobanking into the health-care system.” The working consortium includes 51 participants from 21 member states and more than 150 associated organizations. Zatloukal expects there will be a prototype structure integrating Europe's most advanced biobank initiatives when the initial funding terminates in 2010.