Europelta (meaning "Europe's shield") is a monospecific genus of nodosaurid dinosaur from Spain that lived during the Early Cretaceous (early Albian stage, ~113.0 Ma) in what is now the lower Escucha Formation of the Teruel Province. The type and only species, Europelta carbonensis, is known from two associated partial skeletons, and represents the most complete ankylosaur known from Europe. Europelta was named in 2013 by James I. Kirkland and colleagues. Europelta has an estimated length of 5 metres (16 feet) and weight of 1.3 tonnes (2,866 lbs), making it the largest member of the clade Struthiosaurini.

In 2011, the remains of two partial skeletons of an ankylosaur were discovered from the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico of Teruel-Dinópolis locality AR-1 of the lower, located east of Ariño, in the northern Teruel Province in the Community of Aragón. The paratype of Europelta was collected 200 meters laterally from the holotype in the same bed. The site dates to the early Albian stage of the late Early Cretaceous, based on an analysis of the palynomorphs, ostracods and charophytes (calcareous nannofossils). The bonebed that the two skeletons were obtained from was located tens of meters underground preceding mining operations in the Santa María coal mine and by the end of 2012 the areal distributions of 101 vertebrate concentrations were documented that consisted of dinosaur, turtle, crocodilian and fish skeletons. The mineral Pyrite is common within the bones and in the bonebeds of the two associated skeletons, which is also common in the plant debris beds in the older Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight. When the bones were exposed to the surface, they started to degrade due to the pyrite as indicated by the appearance of fine, powdery to crystalline gypsum coating bones and teeth, and by the shattering of some bones and teeth with internal gypsum formation.

The two associated skeletons were named as Europelta carbonensis in 2013 by James Ian Kirkland, Luis Alcalá, Mark A. Loewen, Eduardo Espílez, Luis Mampel and Jelle P. Wiersma. The holotype specimen, AR-1/10, consists of a mostly complete skull, isolated nasals, a dentary fragment, isolated teeth, an atlas, cervical vertebrae, cervical ribs, dorsal vertebrae, a section of synsacrum, isolated dorsal ribs, dorsal rib fragments, caudal vertebrae, chevrons, a coracoid with a small portion of scapula, a scapular blade fragment, xiphosternal plates, partial humeri, an ischium, an ilium, pubes, and 70 osteoderms. The second skeleton that was designated as the paratype specimen, AR-1/31, consists of a partial jaw with dentary and surangular, an isolated angular, teeth, cervical vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae, dorsosacral vertebrae, a sacrum, a caudosacral vertebra, sacral rib fragments, caudal vertebrae, an ilium, ilium fragments, ischia with fused pubes, a femur, a tibia, a fibula, a calcaneum, metatarsals, phalanges, ungual, and 90 osteoderms. Both specimens are currently housed at the Funda Museo Aragonés de Paleontología, Spain.

The generic name, Europelta, combines a contraction for Europe, as it is the most complete ankylosaur from the continent, and the Ancient Greek word pelta (shield), a common suffix for ankylosaurian genus names in reference to their armoured bodies. The specific name, carbonensis, means "from the coal", from the Latin carbo, in honour of the access provided by the Sociedad Anónima Minera Catalano-Aragonesa (SAMCA Group) to the fossil locality where Europelta was found, in the open-pit Santa María coal mine.

In 2016, Gregory S. Paul gave Europelta an estimated length of 5 metres (16 feet) and a weight of 1.3 tonnes (2,866 lbs).

Kirkland and colleagues (2013) diagnosed Europelta based on the quadrate being shorter and mediolaterally wider than in any other ankylosaur, the concave shape of the posterior margin of the skull in dorsal view, the sacrum in lateral view is arched dorsally by 55°, the pubis is fused to the ischium and has a slot-shaped foramen between the post-pubic process and the orientation of the pubic peduncle which forms an ischiopubis, the tibia is longer relative to the length of the femur than in other ankylosaurs and the presence of laterally compressed, flanged osteoderms with a flat plate-like base that are present towards the front of the pelvic shield.

The skull was preserved with the right quadrate and associated portion of the palate dislodged and later crushed across the ventral side of the basicranium which gives the impression that the quadrate and palate bones were expelled from inside the skull preceding compaction. The skull has an estimated length of 370.3 mm from the front end of the maxillae to the rear margin of the squamosals and a width of 299.1 mm that narrows to 203.7 mm, giving the skull a "pear-shape" appearance. The skull lacks a distinct post-temporal notch, which is a feature seen in polacanthines and other nodosaurids. The maxilla forms the posterior margin of a relatively simple naris in the anterior margin of the bone, which is relative to derived nodosaurids and ankylosaurids, but does not form a portion of a secondary palate. The tooth row is arched ventrally and has an estimated 22–25 alveoli that increased in size posteriorly. The palate does not have a pronounced hourglass appearance as in derived nodosaurids due to medially deflected tooth rows. The nasal taper anteriorly and are relatively subrectangular. The nasals extend laterally from their relatively unfused suture, while the nasals of most ankylosaurs are fused except for Silvisaurus and Niobrarasaurus. The nasal's posterior margin possesses a tongue-like process that would have overlapped the frontals. The narial passage was large and simple as the external surface is lightly textured and the internal surface is relatively smooth, unlike that of derived nodosaurids and ankylosaurids. The orbits have a subrectangular shape and are slightly more elongate from front to back. The suborbital horn is formed mostly from the far end of the quadratojugal to the ventral margin of the orbit. The suborbital horn is evenly rounded, unornamented and hides the head of the quadrate in side view. The lateral wall of the skull extends behind the orbit unlike those of polacanthids and most nodosaurids except for Peloroplites, Silvisaurus and Struthiosaurus. The sheet-like pterygoids flexed nearly dorsally against the front portion of the basicranium as in nodosaurids and not open transversely as in ankylosaurids or polacanthines. The mandibular articulation is more proportionally wider than in other ankylosaurs. In occipital view, the skull is subrectangular and wider than tall as in most other derived ankylosaurs. The paroccipital processes share a similar morphology and orientation to those in Gargoyleosaurus. The paroccipital processes also extend straight laterally as in most other ankylosaurs. The paroccipital has a triangular wedge of bone of unknown identity fused to it, which separates it from the quadrate. The occipital condyle is similar in overall morphology to that of Cedarpelta, except for the occipital condyle angles near the front, and there are no separate basal tubera between the basioccipital and the basisphenoid. The skull roof is roughened texturally by remodelling of the bone surface and preserves skin impressions on the margins that are represented by shallow grooves. The central portion of the skull was covered in an extensive median scale, as in other nodosaurids. A particular robust pair of scales were present along the margin of the skull based on narrow grooves near the region.

The dentary is 184.7 mm long and preserves a minimum of 21 tooth positions. The symphysis is robust and dorsoventrally deeper than in other ankylosaurs and would have had a reduced predentary with a rudimentary ventral process. The splenial contacts the angular and has the appearance of an obtuse triangle in medial view. The lateral margin of the angular is highly rugose, due to the texture and remodelling required to support a large scale. The mandibular ornament has a distinct ridge that marks the upper side limit and has a smooth texture towards the upper side. The extent of the textured bone supporting the mandibular scale is like that of ankylosaurids, rather than that of nodosaurids. The teeth of Europelta are similar to the teeth of Panoplosaurus and Cedarpelta but are not as high crowned as in other ankylosaurs.