Skaters were eligible for the event if they were representing a European member nation of the International Skating Union and had reached the age of 15 before July 1, 2012 in their place of birth. The corresponding competition for non-European skaters was the 2013 Four Continents Championships. National associations selected their entries according to their own criteria, Still, the ISU mandated that their selections achieve a minimum technical elements score (TES) at an international event prior to the European Championships.
2012 European ladies' silver medalist Kiira Korpi of Finland withdrew due to inflammation of her left Achilles tendon and was replaced by Alisa Mikonsaari.[4] The defending ice dancing champions, France's Nathalie Péchalat / Fabian Bourzat, withdrew due to a partial tear of Bourzat's adductor muscle.[5] France did not have a substitute. The 2012 pair skating silver medalists, Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov of Russia, withdrew due to Larionov's wrist injury and Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov were named as their replacements.[6] Poor weather delayed some arrivals. Germany's Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy's flight was cancelled twice.[7] A group of Russian skaters flying to Zagreb were stuck in Budapest, Hungary for ten hours due to weather and organizational problems.[8]
France's Florent Amodio was first in the men's short program, one point ahead of Spain's Javier Fernández, while France's Brian Joubert finished third.[9][10] Seven-time European champion Evgeni Plushenko withdrew after the short program due to aggravation of his back problem.[9] Fernández placed first in the free skate, with Michal Březina of the Czech Republic in second and Amodio in third. Fernández finished first overall and won Spain's first ever European title in figure skating, silver went to Amodio, while Březina claimed the bronze medal and the first European podium of his career.[11][12]
Russia's Adelina Sotnikova placed first in the ladies' short program, with Italy's Carolina Kostner and Valentina Marchei in second and third respectively.[13][14]Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia won the free skate ahead of Kostner and Sotnikova. Kostner finished first in the overall standings and won her fifth European title while Sotnikova and Tuktamysheva took their first continental medals, silver and bronze respectively.[12][15]
Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov of Russia won the pairs' short program ahead of Germany's Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy and Italy's Stefania Berton / Ondrej Hotarek.[16][17] The top three maintained their respective positions in the free skate. Volosozhar / Trankov repeated as European champions, while Savchenko / Szolkowy took silver and Berton / Hotarek took the bronze, Italy's first European medal in pair skating.[10][18]
Russia's Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev placed first in the short dance, with teammates Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov and Italy's Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte rounding out the top three.[17][19] Bobrova / Soloviev won their first European title, silver medalists Ilinykh / Katsalapov were first in the free dance by 0.33 and second overall by 0.11, and bronze medalists Cappellini / Lanotte finished on the European podium for the first time in their career.[14][20]
