Less than a week after FEI officials decided to withdraw the 2005 European Championships from Moscow, Russia, they announced that Hagen, Germany, will now host the championships on the same weekend they were originally scheduled to be held, July 28-31.

Ulli Kasselmann, of the German Equestrian Federation, and Hagen organizer Paul Schockemöhle made their offer to stage the European Championship on the same weekend as the cancelled Moscow championships in order to cause minimal disruption to the FEI calendar and to cause no disruption to television broadcast schedules. According to Mariette Withages, chairman of the FEI Dressage Committee, this was of paramount importance as competitors have been preparing their horses to be at their peak for the end of July.