The groups involved in ENIP have worked together for many years, collaborating on different project areas, including advocacy around the drafting of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  The groups have much in common, as despite being based in different European countries we all have a strong focus on indigenous solidarity. However, the first key meeting with a European focus of ENIP’s members took place in Brussels in March 2013, at a conference convened by the European Union (EU) which had a strong focus on project funding for indigenous peoples.  The focus of the meeting allowed us to review the joint opportunities for influencing European and EU policy. Considering the history of indigenous issues within the EU, we noted that there had been some very positive work done in the past. Yet, we believed that indigenous issues were not being advanced as well as possible at the present. We therefore decided to coordinate to ensure that indigenous issues are promoted within the EU bureaucracy, and at the level of European government. ENIP had its founding meeting at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May 2013. We set ourselves various goals, to review indigenous peoples’ policy and coordinate around advocacy for EU & EU member states. The first joint activity was a meeting organised at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Preparatory Conference in Alta  in June 2013, and subsequent meetings have taken place either at significant events, such as the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva in December 2013, or at the offices of the different organisations.