In the last two years many initiatives to start so-called virtual universities have emerged in various countries throughout Europe. These mostly extensive projects are paving the way for really large-scale introduction of e-learning at the university level in Europe. Because of the substantial impact to be foreseen there is a need for a comparative state-of-the-art overview of the European landscape in this respect. We report the first results of such a study, in the future to be used as a base line for a monitoring instrument. This monitor will be established under the umbrella of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), members of which are involved in many of the university level e-learning initiatives in Europe. The EADTU Monitor ‘Universities in e-learning’ aims to provide the needed continually updated information concerning Europe and relevant for educational professionals as well as policy makers.