Participation in the European Youth Olympic Festival is open to all European young athletes nominated by their National Olympic Committee and that is a member of the EOC, subject to the current EYOF Charter and EOC regulations on age categories and quotas for each EYOF edition.
The qualification criteria for athletes/teams are in the remit of the respective NOC/NF, with the exception of ice hockey, curling, basketball, handball and volleyball, where the qualification systems/criteria are set up by the respective IF/EF.