The AEN was founded in 2002, designed to complement the existing Union for Europe of the Nations group in the European Parliament.

Almost immediately upon its founding, the AEN began to decline in terms of membership and influence.

At its first meeting, participants included the Czech Civic Democratic Party, Portuguese CDS-PP, Israeli Likud, Irish Fianna Fáil, Italian National Alliance and the Greek Popular Orthodox Rally,[2] all of which later left the organisation.

There was a strong movement for the centrist Fianna Fáil to leave AEN and join the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, which it did on 17 April 2009.

MEPs elected from its member-parties were expected to sit in the affiliated Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) group in the European Parliament, but UEN collapsed in 2009 following the 2009 European Parliament elections, and MEPs from AEN member parties were scattered across the European Conservatives and Reformists and Europe of Freedom and Democracy groups, and their respective European-level parties, the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists and Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy.