For the first time ever the Volleyball Senior Men’s European Championship 2005 is taking place in two different countries: Italy and Serbia-Montenegro are giving hospitality to the two preliminary pools in their capital cities, Belgrade and Rome.

The Opening Ceremony will be hold in Belgrade on 2nd of September, on the first competition day of pool B.
Pool A matches are beginning on the 3rd of September in Rome.
The first round is coming to an end in Belgrade on the 7th of September and in Rome on the 8th.
The best two teams of each pool will participate, on the 10th of September, to the semifinals in Italy.
In the semifinal matches the first qualified team in pool 1 shall play against the second qualified team in pool 2, while the second qualified team in pool 1 against the first team in pool 2.
The winners of the two semifinals shall play one against the other for the European gold.
The losers of the two semifinals shall play one against the other for the European bronze.
The finals will be played in Rome, at Palalottomatica, on the 11th of September 2005, followed by the Awarding and Closing Ceremonies.

For all the rounds of the European Championship, the allocation of points shall be as follows:
match won = 2 points
match lost = 1 point
technical forfeit = 0 point

In the case of equal points teams shall be settled according to (in order):
quotient of sets won/lost
quotient of points won/lost
result of the match(es) played between the teams in question