From September 2016, there will still be an annual champion, but a format change means each year sees teams promoted and relegated between the levels.

Following the Second World War, France was readmitted into the Five Nations Championship, but they also competed in the only two tournaments organised by FIRA, the Rugby Union European Cup, held in 1952 and 1954, winning them both.

After the setup of the divisional system in 2000, Romania won the first competition with maximum points, The initial season also included Morocco.

Russia then replaced Morocco in 2001 when Georgia secured the title and were crowned champions after a 31–20 win over Romania in Bucharest.

Romania started 2002 trailing Georgia after the 2001 results, but managed to win all of the remaining five games, including a 31–23 victory in Tbilisi.

The Russia – Czech Republic game was rescheduled due to bad weather and was eventually cancelled.

Romania triumphed finishing level on points with Georgia, while Ukraine were relegated after losing all matches.

The Czech Republic were the team to finish on the bottom of the table, losing all of their matches, relegating them back to Division 2A.

The 2009 season saw the début of Germany in the top division, Georgia defended their title, and there were wins for Portugal and Russia in Bucharest.

Faced with the possibility of missing a Rugby World Cup for the first time, Romania were managed the 2010 title.

In Division 2, groups have only five teams each (usually meaning one home match and one away match in the Autumn, and the same in the Spring, for each team), it is assumed that the majority of players are amateurs (meaning scheduling is not as limited), and in addition to the traditional automatic first-promoted-last-relegated system, fourth place from the higher pool will play second place from the lower pool after every two-year competition, with the winner taking the position in the higher pool.

From September 2016, the European Nations Cup became the Rugby Europe International Championships, made up of five levels or divisions: The Trophy, Conference and Development divisions have normally been held across the turn of the year, in the autumn and winter of one year and the spring of the next.

Qualification for three European spots in the 2023 Rugby World Cup was determined by the collective results of the 2021 and 2022 Championships added together, which (thanks to the fact of no promotion and relegation following the 2021 season, and the lower divisions not being played at all) formed a full home-and-away round-robin between the six nations of the Championship.

[2] This was further altered by Russia's expulsion from international sport following the invasion of Ukraine, which left only five teams from those who had contested the 2022 Championship.