Primary cutaneous lymphomas represent a heterogeneous group of T- and B-cell lymphomas, that show considerable variation in histology, phenotype and prognosis. Recently, the EORTC Cutaneous Lymphoma Project Group has reached concensus on a new classification for this group of diseases. In contrast to other classification schemes for non-Hodgkin lymphomas, the EORTC classification for Cutaneous Lymphomas is not only based on histological and immunophenotypical, but also on clinical criteria. Therefore, it includes a list of disease entities, that have a well-defined clinical presentation and clinical behaviour. For that reason, secondary cutaneous lymphomas as well as cutaneous lymphomas arising in immunocompromised patients are excluded from this classification. In addition, it contains a number of provisional entities, which may display characteristic histologic features, but are clinically not yet well-defined. These provisinal entites account for less than 5% of all primary cutaneous lymphomas.The basic principles of this new classification, the characteristic clinical and histological features as well as the estimated 5-year-survival data of over 600 patients with different types of cutaneous lymphomas registered at the Dutch Cutaneous Lymphoma Working Group, validating the clinical significance of this classification, are presented.