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).

One of the major achievements of the Society has been the publication of best practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of TS. ESSTS has been instrumental in gaining research support for pan-European consortia, promising to shed light into the etiology of TS (EMTICS, TS-EUROTRAIN).

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 a European-wide network of TS support and advocacy groups.