The adjective "unioniste" in the association's name refers to the Unions chrétiennes de jeunes gens, the French YMCA, and the Unions Chrétiennes des Jeunes Filles, the YWCA, where the first Protestant Scout and Guide units were started in the years 1910 to 1912.

The Protestant Scout association Eclaireurs unionistes de France was founded in 1912; the Guides joined the Fédération Française des Eclaireuses (French Guides Federation) on its foundation in 1921.

Both organizations were among the founders of the Fédération du Scoutisme Français (Federation of French Scouting) in 1941.

The Fédération française des eclaireuses, which rejoined non-denominational, Jewish and Protestant units, became the Fédération française des eclaireuses unionistes in 1964, when the non-denominational groups merged with the Eclaireurs de France and the Jewish with the Eclaireurs israélites de France.

Since 2008, the EEUdF cooperates with the other Protestant Scouting organizations within the Protestant Federation of France: Fédération du Scoutisme evangélique français(with Éclaireurs Evangéliques de France, Les Porteurs de Flambeau (Salvation Army), Flambeaux et Claires Flammes, and Royal Rangers) and Jeunesse Adventiste (Pathfinders).