The federation started its activities during 1990 and the first official Council meeting took place at Duphar´s office in Weesp, the Netherlands in November 1990. It was constituted at a subsequent meeting in Paris, June 1991 and thereafter officially launched at the joint ISCB/SCT meeting in Brussels July 1991. The founding members were six (France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, UK). Denmark joined the federation in 1992 and in 1993 Belgium, and the Netherlands became members. In 1998 Spain was adopted as a full member after having had observer status for a period of five years. Finally, Finland became a full member in 2001.

The EFSPI constitution underwent a minor revision in April 1995. According to the current constitution the aims of the EFSPI federation are:

• To promote professional standards of statistics and the standing of the statistical profession in matters pertinent to the European pharmaceutical industry.
• To offer a collective expert input on statistical matters to national and international authorities and organisations.
• To exchange information on and harmonize attitudes to the practice of statistics in the European pharmaceutical industry and within the member groups.

The federation has essentially operated in the same way since its beginning. The main activities have been concentrated to the two council meetings every year. In addition, special working parties have been assigned particular tasks such as reviewing regulatory guidelines, setting up criteria for a “qualified and experienced statistician”, and looking after non-clinical and veterinary statistics. Under the auspices of EFSPI, workshops and meetings have also been organized on pertinent issues for the federation. The awareness of EFSPI has gradually increased with regulatory agencies, trade organizations in the field, and other statistical associations.