Europa Nova was a human colony settled sometime in the late 2200s. The population decided not to join the United Federation of Planets, and remained non-aligned.

The Europa Nova colonists have a strong dislike for the Cardassians, following an unspecified incident where the Cardassians turned the former seventh planet of the system into an asteroid belt. Standing orders for the Europa Nova military were to shoot any Cardassian vessel on sight. During the Dominion War, Europa Nova successfully repelled a Breen attack. (DS9 - Gateways novel: Demons of Air and Darkness)

At the outbreak of the Gateways crisis, radioactive antimatter industrial waste from a Malon freighter in the Delta Quadrant threatened to irradiate the entire population. A joint task force including the USS Defiant, several Starfleet vessels, Bajoran Militia craft, and the Cardassian vessel Trager were called in to evacuate the planet before the radiation reached lethal levels. The colonists were temporarily housed on Bajor and Deep Space 9. (DS9 - Gateways novel: Demons of Air and Darkness)

The inhabitants of Europa Nova returned to the planet over the next several months. (DS9 - Mission Gamma novel: Twilight)