First there was a preliminary round, in which the twelve teams were divided into two groups of six. The two best teams in each group played for the first four places in the next round, with the first in the table meeting the second in the other group. Similarly, the third and fourth group played for positions five to eight and the remaining teams for positions nine to twelve.
Finland was set as the host. The top five teams from the 1975 European Championship were also automatically qualified. These were the Soviet Union as defending champions, the second Poland , the third Yugoslavia , the fourth Romania and the fifth Bulgaria .
Fourteen teams played in three groups for six more places. The top two teams in each group qualified for the finals. In Group A, France and hosts Netherlands prevailed. Group B won Czechoslovakia and Hungary . In Group C, the GDR and Italy were successful, while the Federal Republic only came in last.