The European Handball Federation (EHF) proposal to switch the Handball World Championships from its current 2 year cycle to a 4 year cycle was soundly defeated at the recent International Handball Federation (IHF) Congress in Madrid. According to an article posted on the IHF website the proposed measure received only 32 votes, meaning that several European nations, in fact, did not support the measure.
The current schedule for Handball World Championships
Women
Dec 2007 France
Dec 2009 China
Dec 2011 TBD
Men
Jan 2009 Croatia
Jan 2011 TBD
IHF Website Article on Madrid Congress: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=705
From what I read, most of the "big" European handball nations were for it. They are the ones facing a too crowded schedule.