The Gabriel Péri Foundation was created on the initiative of the French Communist Party. Since July 2004 it is legally recognized as an entity for the public good. The PCF has oriented the foundation around two main points:
1. the need for an independently functioning structure for the study of recent history, especially of the French labour and communist movements, an endeavour the PCF considers vital for understanding future possibilities;
2. the need for a space in which people can come together to compare and generate ideas and proposals for the construction of a new Europe as well as a world of democratic and social progress.
A political foundation is the structure most suited to the accomplishment of these tasks. In particular, it guarantees independent functioning. Accordingly, the Gabriel Péri Foundation is establishing high standards for scholarly archival work, for transparency and openness in the public encounters it organises, and above all in the level of concrete usefulness of its work for all those who are struggling for human emancipation.