This article introduces the architecture and mechanisms of the self-managing future Internet currently being developed by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project EFIPSANS. In this architecture, network functions are divided into four planes: decision, dissemination, discovery, and data. Decision Elements (DEs), managed entities, and other information collecting entities at different planes comprise control loops of four layers: the protocol layer, the function layer, the node layer, and the network layer. DEs and their related control loops contribute to network self-management and self-maintenance. This greatly reduces the need for intervention in the network, thus reducing costs and improving user experience. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has now established a new Industry Specification Group to standardize the self-managing Internet.