The catalytic activity of Pd-CeO2/C and non-supported Pd-CeO2 electrocatalysts for the formic acid (FAOR) and glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) is evaluated in this work. The materials have been synthesized by pyrolysis in H-2 atmosphere at 300 and 600 A degrees C, with a nominal Pd:CeO2 ratio of 1:1. X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates polycrystalline materials with particles sizes ranging from 11 to 14 nm (Pd) and 26 to 48 nm (CeO2). Electrocatalytic measurements show a positive effect of dispersing the catalysts on Vulcan in the case of the FAOR, in terms of potential-current density profile and onset potential. While unsupported Pd-CeO2 nanoparticles behave poorly, the Pd-CeO2/C anodes show a very high performance towards the FAOR. Particularly, Pd-CeO2/C obtained at 600 A degrees C shows a significantly high catalytic activity, with a higher mass current density than a comparable Pd/C electrocatalyst. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis undoubtedly demonstrates that the carbon support has an important effect on the oxidation states of Pd and CeO2, which in turns influences positively the catalytic behavior of Pd-CeO2/C catalysts. Furthermore, both supported and unsupported Pt-CeO2 materials have shown no catalytic activity for the GOR. The results indicate that Pd-CeO2/C electrocatalysts can be considered as excellent candidate anodes for direct formic acid fuel cells.