The French capital had been the only bidder following the withdrawal of Georgia's capital Tbilisi last year. 

European Athletics confirmed Paris would host the event on the first day of its Council meeting at the Hôtel Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel in Paris today. 

"I’m delighted that the European Athletics Council validated the Parisian project to host the European Athletics Championships 2020," said European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen.

"It’s an ambitious yet realistic project, which will enable us to return our sport to centre stage again, shortly after the Olympic Games."

The Championships are due to take place at the Charléty Stadium but could be moved to the Stade de France if Paris are awarded the 2024 Olympic Games.

Paris is currently bidding against Los Angeles to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A decision is due to be made by the International Olympic Committee at its Session in Lima on September 13. 

Unlike previous editions of the European Championships held in Olympic year, at Helsinki in 2012 and Amsterdam in 2016, these Championships will take place after Tokyo 2020.

They have been scheduled to be held between August 26 and 30, 17 days after the Closing Ceremony in the Japanese capital. 

The 2018 European Championships are due to take place at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. 

"Hosting the European Championships in France is a great opportunity for us to unify our clubs and our members around a popular event, which is intended to convey our values: setting new targets, commitment and solidarity," said André Giraud, President of the French Athletics Federation.

A key message of the bid, like that of Paris 2024, was sustainability and being ecologically friendly. 

They have launched the "Green Inspiration" scheme which, it is claimed, will reduce the environmental impact of the competition. 

Firstly, by reducing the distances between the athletes’ village at the the University campus and the competition site.

Between the two key venues, it’s just five minutes’ walk, it is claimed. 

They will also be proposing some special offers, which will encourage spectators to use public transport.

"I’m sure that Paris is capable of organising some fantastic championships, on a par with those organised over recent years in Zurich and Amsterdam, as well as those which are being prepared for next year in Berlin," said Hansen. 

It will be the first time that Paris has hosted the European Championships since 1938, when the city only hosted the men's events as the women competed in Vienna. 

The Charléty Stadium is currently a 20,000-capacity venue and the home of Paris FC who compete in Ligue 2.

The stadium hosted the 1994 and 2002 IAAF Grand Prix Finals and the 2003 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival.

Since 2010, the European Championships have been organised every two years, rather than every four which they had been since they first took place at Turin in 1934. 

When they coincide with the Olympics, the marathon and racewalking events are not contested. 

From 2018, European Championships not held in an Olympic year will form part of the European Championships, a new quadrennial multi-sport event designed and held by individual European Federations.

Paris will not be part of this new event as the next European Sports Championships after 2018 is due to take place in 2022. 

At the same meeting in Paris, Swedish cities Borås and Gävle were awarded the 2019 European Athletics Under-20 and Under-23 Championships respectively.

The European Athletics Team Championships Super League in 2019 were allocated to the Polish city of Bydgoszcz. 

Bydgoszcz has experience in organising major events in the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium with the 2016 IAAF World Under-20 Championships and is currently preparing for this year's European Under-23 Championships from July 13 to 16. 

The annual European Athletic Festival in Bydgoszcz, a European Athletics Classic Meeting, is held annually during the month of June.

"The Council was pleased with the impressive presentations for three of our most important events in 2019," said Hansen. 

"We strongly appreciate the concept proposed by the Swedish delegation to stage both the Under-23 and Under-20 Championships back-to-back. 

"It will also be a pleasure to return to Poland where the enthusiasm for athletics is so great. 

"The exciting Team Championships format will certainly attract fans in numbers to Bydgoszcz to celebrate Europe’s top stars."