The successor to the UEFA European Under-18 Championship, the U19 event has been running annually since 2001/02. It consists of a qualifying round, an elite round and an eight-team final tournament usually held in July.

The autumn qualifying round is made up of 12 groups of four teams playing round-robin fixtures at one venue. The top two progress alongside the third-placed team with the best record against the top pair in their section. In the elite round, played in the spring, the qualifiers and three teams given byes compete in seven mini-tournament groups of four, with the winners joining the hosts in the finals.

The final tournament consists of two groups of four, with the top two from each progressing to the semi-finals where it becomes a knockout competition. The championship also serves as qualification for the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup; the 2011/12 European Championship leads to the 2013 World Cup in Turkey.

Regulations
The regulations for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship are initially drawn up by the UEFA Administration before being submitted to the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee. They are then forwarded upon that committee's approval to the UEFA Executive Committee for ratification.