A multinational project, RIBESCO, was designed in order to improve the characterisation and conservation of the north and central European Ribes germplasm. The four-year project was initiated in 2007 by nine partners in eight EU countries within the Baltic Sea Region. In the project, a decentralised core collection of cultivated Ribes species was established, including blackcurrant (R. nigrum), red and white currant (R. rubrum coll.) and gooseberry (R. uva-crispa). The germplasm accessions maintained in the national ex situ collections were subjected to the phenotypic characterisation using trans-nationally defined descriptors, thereby bringing together the phenotypic information of approximately 1400 Ribes accessions. Genotypes were selected into the core collection partly on the basis of the values and diversity defined by the phenotypic characterisation and partly on the basis of agronomic, historical or other cultural values. The quality of berries was one selection criterion. In addition, it was assured that germplasm representing a high level of genetic variation was selected. The molecular analyses were conducted utilising both previously published SSR markers and new markers developed in the project. A genotypic evaluation of over 800 accessions was carried out. Duplicate and mislabelled accessions were found in the existing collections. Some previously unnamed accessions were also identified as known cultivars. For the conservation of the selected core collection, ex situ field collections were established and cryopreservation for long-term storage was developed. The project promoted both the preservation and use of fruit genetic material.