Existing coastal observatories in European waters are complex systems consisting of different observational components, providing crucial operational data for assessment, model validation and assimilation purposes. However, the geographical, structural, functional and operational heterogeneities that characterise them pose an enormous challenge to their efficient exploitation as information providers on a broader, cross-border, regional scale. To address this problem, the European Union (EU) Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) Towards a Joint European Research Infrastructure Network for Coastal Observatories (JERICO) project is creating a shared, pan-European framework for the networking of such observatories, promoting the identification and dissemination of best practices for their design, implementation and maintenance, as well as common data distribution and transnational access protocols to enhance their performance and sustainability. In doing so, the project is also laying down the foundation for the coastal element of the nascent European Ocean Observing System.