The idea of a European federation was brought up in Strasbourg in 1988 by French, Belgian, Luxembourgish and German young members from Green parties.

In 2002, during a FYEG General Assembly in Belgrade, the Cooperation and Development network (CDN) was founded, with the aim of better supporting green youth organisations in Eastern and South Eastern Europe, which were often smaller and organisationally less developed than their Western European counterparts.

Three MEPs, who were among the youngest ever, were elected to the European Parliament: Ska Keller, Jan Philipp Albrecht and Karima Delli.

At the 2018 General Assembly, FYEG celebrated its 30th anniversary, and for the first time elected two female co-spokespeople: Zuzana Pavelková from Mladí zelení and Katri Ylinen, from ViNO.

Like many other European Party-Political Youth Organisations, FYEG's main activities consist of lobbying its mother party within internal and external channels, engaging in broader European political discourse on topics relevant to it and its member organisations - notably migration and LGBTQ rights[2] - and organising international youth exchanges with EU and Council of Europe funding.

The FCC's tasks include a yearly meeting, dedicated to checking FYEG's finances.

The Advisory Committee ensures the transfer of knowledge within FYEG and acts as a conflict resolution body.

The Working groups are a place for FYEG activists to meet, debate topics, develop campaigns and ideas.