Europhysics Letters was founded in 1986 by the European Physical Society (EPS), the Société Française de Physique (SFP) and its subsidiary EDP Sciences, the Società Italiana di Fisica (SIF) and the Institute of Physics (IOP). The new journal incorporated Lettere al Nuovo Cimento and Journal de Physique Lettres and has been published by EPS, EDP Sciences and SIF until 2006.

EPL is now published under the scientific policy and control of the EPS by EDP Sciences, IOP Publishing and SIF for a partnership of 17 European physical societies (the EPL Association).

The EPL Association is managed by a Board of Directors together with the Editor In Chief, EPS Secretary General, Executive Editor and Staff Editor.
The refereeing procedure is handled by the Editorial Board and the Editorial Office (with the support of the Deputy Editors Board).