Class ESSTS was originally established in 2000 in Copenhagen by Professor Mary Robertson and other TS-specialists. The inaugural meeting took place at UCL in 2001. The organisation was reformed in 2008, at the Italian Neurological Society meeting in Bari, Italy.

Since 2008, ESSTS has been organising annual meetings, as well as multiple BT workshops and training courses on TS. Training visits for young researchers and clinicians were also made possible with the funding support of the European Commission (COST Action European Network for the Study of TS-BM0905). ESSTS was instrumental in gaining research support for pan-European consortia, promising to shed light into the etiology of TS (EMTICS, TS-EUROTRAIN).  

Among the Society's most significant contributions to the field are the European clinical guidelines for Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders, first published in 2011 and comprehensively updated as version 2.0 in 2022. Published across four parts covering assessment, psychological interventions, pharmacological treatment, and deep brain stimulation, these guidelines are the primary evidence-based reference for TS clinical practice across Europe and are cited internationally. A third update is currently under consideration.

In 2022, the Society also developed and published the ESSTS 2022 criteria for clinical diagnosis of functional tic-like behaviours: International consensus from experts in tic disorders, initiated at the Lausanne 2022 meeting in response to the marked global surge in rapid-onset tic-like presentations that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Society has also fostered the establishment of the International Tourette Awareness Day which is celebrated every year on Professor Mary Robertson's birthday, on June 7, as well as an international network of TS support and advocacy groups.