European seismological observatories have undergone an impressive evolution in the last 5 to 10 years. The result is a very dense, but patch-like coverage, with seismic instruments operated by a multitude of different observatories. Providing the research community with easy and rapid access to all of these waveform data poses a significant challenge. An ongoing European Community-funded project, Mediterranean-European Rapid Earthquake Data Information and Archiving Network (MEREDIAN) aims to shape these national efforts into a European-Mediterranean infrastructure for broadband waveform data exchange and archiving. One of the most visible accomplishments of MEREDIAN is the Virtual European Broadband Seismograph Network (VEBSN), with which (near) real-time data are gathered at the Observatories and Research Facilities for European Seismology (ORFEUS) Data Center in De Bilt, The Netherlands. (VEBSN is a major extension of the ORFEUS data collection infrastructure.) Continuously improving and expanding at a rapid pace, the VEBSN has now been successfully operating for nearly 2 years.