This volume contains the 69 papers presented at the 16th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2010), held in Liverpool during September 6-8, 2010, including three papers by the distinguished invited speakers Artur Czumaj, Herbert Edelsbrunner, and Paolo Ferragina. ESA 2010 was organized as a part of ALGO 2010, which also included the 10th Workshop on Algorithms in Bioinformatics (WABI), the 8th Workshop on Approximation and Online Algorithms (WAOA), and the 10th Workshop on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modeling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS). The European Symposium on Algorithms covers research in the design, use, andanalysisofe?cientalgorithmsanddata structures.As inpreviousyears,the symposium had two tracks: the Design and Analysis Track and the Engineering and Applications Track, each with its own Program Committee. In total 245 papers adhering to the submission guidelines were submitted. Each paper was reviewed by three or four referees. Based on the reviews and the often extensive electronicdiscussionsfollowingthem, thecommittees selected 66papersintotal: 56 (out of 206) to the Design and Analysis Track and 10 (out of 39) to the Engineering andApplicationstrack.We believethat thesepaperstogethermade up a strong and varied program, showing the depth and breadth of current algorithms research.