The goal of this collaboration is to develop a roadmap for future European research in CAM that is appropriate for the health care needs of EU citizens, and acceptable to the EU parliament as well as their national research funders and healthcare providers. We will enable meaningful reliable comparative research and communication within Europe and create a sustainable structure and policy. CAMbrella is focussed on academic research groups which do not advocate specific treatments. The Advisory Board represents the main CAM stakeholders including consumers, practitioners, clinical providers, and manufacturers of CAM medicinal products. The specific objectives are to develop an EU network involving centres of research excellence for collaborative research, to develop consensus-based terminology widely accepted in Europe to describe CAM interventions, to create a knowledge base that facilities our understanding of patient demand for CAM and its prevalence, to review the current legal status and policies governing CAM provision in the EU and, to explore the needs, beliefs and attitudes of the EU citizens with respect to CAM. Based on this information we will create a roadmap that will enable a sustainable and prioritised EU research roadmap for CAM. We will achieve this in 3 years by creating dialogue between researchers from 12 EU member and associated states. We will set up a mechanism that will allow fruitful and thoughtful discussion throughout the EU. To facilitate this coordinating action the project will be delivered in 9 independent but interrelated work packages whose members meet regularly. It will be coordinated by a Management Board and directed by a Scientific Steering Committee with support of an Advisory Board. The outcomes generated will be disseminated through our website, peer review publications and a final conference, with emphasis on current and future EU policies, addressing the different target audiences with an interest in CAM.