The European conference situationin the general area of software science has longbeen considered unsatisfactory. A fairlylarge number of small and medi- sized conferences and workshops take place on an irregular basis, competing for high-quality contributions and for enough attendees to make them ?nancially viable. Discussions aiming at a consolidation have been underway since at least 1992, with concrete planning beginning in summer 1994 and culminating in a public meeting at TAPSOFT'95 in Aarhus. On the basis of a broad consensus, it was decided to establish a single annual federated spring...