The hosts put on a gala display, showcasing the charms of their eight venue cities, from the beaches of Gdansk on Poland's Baltic coast to the riverside of Donetsk in southeast Ukraine.
Iconic players from both nations were on hand, including Ukraine's Oleg Blokhin, who was named European Footballer of the Year in 1975 when his homeland was still part of the Soviet Union.
"For sure, we've been waiting for this moment for a long time," Blokhin said.
Platini said he was "absolutely certain Poland and Ukraine will be a really great European championships".
"There are still two years to get things into shape," he said.
Despite the upbeat message, jitters remain. Ukraine is a persistent concern, amid bitter political infighting and a spectacular economic slump.
"Between the financial crisis and the political problems in Ukraine, it's not been particularly simple," Platini said.
UEFA has in general been happier about the readiness of Poland.
A European Union member since 2004, it is the only nation in the 27-nation bloc to have bucked the global economic crisis. It has also enjoyed political stability since the liberal Tusk ousted a fractious conservative-led coalition in an Oct 2007 snap election.
But the duo remains under pressure to meet the major challenges it faces in shaking up its infrastructure, notably Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union until 1991 and whose dreams of EU membership and access to the funding it brings are a long way off.
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