The qualifying event for this year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo was originally scheduled to take place last year but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This followed the postponement of Tokyo 2020 to 2021 as a result of the global health crisis, with the Olympics now scheduled from July 23 to August 8. 

The Paralympics will then follow from August 24 to September 5. 

Qualifying remains in Varese and will run from April 5 to 7, with the European Rowing Championships then set for April 9 to 11. 

The Italian city was confirmed as host after the World Rowing Executive Committee and European Rowing Board verified that preparations for the events conformed with World Rowing's COVID-19 protection plan. 

Masks and social distancing will be mandatory for all participants, with the number of people at the venue at any one time limited where possible. 

This means crews not competing in the Olympic and Paralympic qualification event may be unable to train for the European Rowing Championships at the venue. 

Training and classification options for crews only competing at the European Rowing Championships will be published when arrangements are finalised.

In addition to meeting any local Government requirements, each participant at the event will be required to complete a health questionnaire and member federations are obliged to sign a consent form accepting responsibility for their team members. 

To protect the health of all participants, anyone not adhering to the participation conditions will be immediately disqualified and excluded from the event, at the discretion of the World Rowing Executive Committee or European Rowing Board.

The last edition of the European Rowing Championships was held in the Polish city of Poznań in October, having been postponed from June.