Flexible luminescent polymer films were obtained by doping europium(III) complexes in blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and the ionic liquid 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [C 6 3 ], where nta is 2-naphthoyltrifluoroacetonate, tta is 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonate, phen is 1,10-phenanthroline, dpa is 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylate (dipicolinate) and choline is the 2-hydroxyethyltrimethyl ammonium cation. Bright red photoluminescence was observed for all the films upon irradiation with ultraviolet radiation. The luminescent films have been investigated by high-resolution steady-state luminescence spectroscopy and by time-resolved measurements. The polymer films doped with b-diketonate complexes are characterized by a very intense 5 D 0 -7 F 2 transition (up to 15 times more intense than the 5 D 0 -7 F 1 ) transition, whereas a marked feature of the PMMA films doped with [choline] 3 [Eu(dpa) 3 ] is the long lifetime of the 5 D 0 excited state (1.8 ms).