I have been wondering about the same....
Seems to be: Cooperation for Open Systems Interconnection Networking in Europe An EU research project from the 80's, early 90's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seaux_Associ%C3%A9s_pour_la_Recherche_Eu... informs us that:
TERENA was founded under the name Réseaux Associés pour la Recherche Européenne (RARE) on 13 June 1986.^[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seaux_Associ%C3%A9s_pour_la_Recherche_Europ%C3%A9enne#cite_note-1 It was created by several European networking organisations to promote open computer networking standards (specifically the OSI protocols http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_protocols).^[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seaux_Associ%C3%A9s_pour_la_Recherche_Europ%C3%A9enne#cite_note-Quarterman1990-2 The first few years were dominated by the Co-operation for Open Systems Interconnection Networking in Europe (COSINE) project.^[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seaux_Associ%C3%A9s_pour_la_Recherche_Europ%C3%A9enne#cite_note-carp-3 COSINE led to the implementation of some of the first standardised network-related services, for example X.400 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.400 email and X.500 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.500 directory service.
More at: http://cordis.europa.eu/projects/rcn/8882_en.html http://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/inet/92/proceedings/WorldRegional_R5_CO...