A new method for the determination of europium by kinetic spectrophotometry was established based on the catalytic effect of europium (III) on the fading reaction of ponceau with hydrogen peroxide. The maximum absorption peak of Eu3+- H2O2-Ponceau system is located at 450 nm in a 6.0×10-2 mol/L HCl medium. The absorbance difference (△A) is linearly related with the concentration of europium (III) in the range of 0-22 μg/25 mL, fitting the equation △A = 0.0221C+0.0241 (C = μg/25 mL ), with a regression coefficient of 0.9968. Detection limit of the method is 2.42 μg/L. The method was used to determine europium in environmental water samples. The relative standard deviation was 0.49%-1.76% for 13 replicated determinations. The recovery of the standard addition of the method was 95.20%-101.3%.