A fluorescence enhancement phenomenon on adding Gd3+ to the europium-thenoyltrifluoroacetone-cetytrimethylammonium bromide-Triton X-100 fluorescence system was observed and studied in detail. The fluorescence intensity of this system was 60 times greater than that of the system without gadolinium. The optimum conditions are a Gd3+ concentration of 2.0 x 10(-5) M and pH 7.5-8.5; the fluorescence intensity is a linear function of the concentration of europium in the range 6.0 x 10(-11)-1.0 x 10(-7) M and the detection limit is 2.0 x 10(-12) M europium. This system was used for the determination of trace amounts of europium in rare earth samples with satisfactory results.