European Orienteering Championships
The European Orienteering Championships were first held in 1962. They have been held biennially since 2000. From 2020, the European Orienteering Championships will be held annually, with sprint events and forest events in alternate years
Format
The competition format has changed several times. From the beginning in 1962, the World Championships consisted of only two competitions: an individual race and an unofficial relay. The relay event was an official event for the first time in the 1964 European Championships. EOC was not arranged from 1964 to 2000. In 2000, a sprint race. In 2002, a short distance race was added. The middle distance replaced the short distance in 2004 On IOF's 23rd congress in Lausanne in 2012, it was decided that a sprint relay event would be added in the 2016 European Orienteering Championships in Jeseník, Czech Republic. The sprint relay are competed in urban areas and consists of four-orienteer mixed-gender teams with starting order woman-man-man-woman.Current competition format
The current championship events are:| Distance | Notes | |
| Long distance | 90–100 min | Previously called classic distance |
| Middle distance | 30–35 min | Replaced short distance in 2004 |
| Relay | 3 × 40 min | Three-person teams |
Host towns/cities
| Year | Date | Place |
| 1962 | September 22–23 |  Løten, Norway |
| 1964 | September 26–27 |  Le Brassus, Switzerland |
| 2000 | June 30 - July 4 |  Truskavets, Ukraine |
| 2002 | September 25–30 |  Sümeg, Hungary |
| 2004 | July 10–17 |  Roskilde, Denmark |
| 2006 | May 7–14 |  Otepää, Estonia |
| 2008 | May 25 - June 1 |  Ventspils, Latvia |
| 2010 | May 27 - June 6 |  Primorsko, Bulgaria |
| 2012 | May 14 - May 20 |  Falun, Sweden |
| 2014 | April 9–16 |  Palmela, Portugal |
| 2016 | May 25–31 |  Jeseník, Czech Republic |
| 2018 | May 5–12 | Cadempino, Switzerland |
| 2020 | August 16–23 | Rakvere, Estonia |