The CER was formally founded in 2007, after a first exploratory meeting in 2006 held at Kasteel De Vanenburg in Putten, which brought together conservative scholars and writers from across Europe and the United States as well.

[3] Five editions of The European Conservative were published intermittently over a two-year period by a group of volunteers associated with the CER and the Vanenburg Meeting, before production was paused at the end of 2010.

[11][12] Over the years, The European Conservative has published material by people closely associated with the CER, as well as by other well-known authors, such as Anthony Daniels (Theodore Dalrymple), Remi Brague, Ryszard Legutko, Chantal Delsol, Mark Dooley, Todd Huizinga, Charles Coulombe, Alberto Fernandez, Roger Watson, among others.

In June 2021, to mark the re-design and re-launch of the publication (with its Summer 2021 edition) it held a panel discussion with several scholars at one of the Scruton Cafes in Budapest, Hungary.

[22] The European Conservative has also participated in the 2022 Young Leaders Academy, organized by New Direction and the Center for the Renewal of Culture in Split,[23] with the Institut Iliade in Paris,[24] and the Bibliothek des Konservatismus in Berlin.

[25][26] On September 30–October 2, 2022, five days after the snap elections in Italy, The European Conservative co-organized, with Nazione Futura and the Fondazione Tatarella, a two-day conference on "Italian Conservatism".

[27][28][29][30][31][32] In April 2023, The European Conservative was the first news outlet to report on allegations that Jian Guo, a parliamentary aide of right-wing MEP Maximilian Krah, might be lobbying and spying for communist-ruled China.

A few of the many contributors to The European Conservative over the years have included: The magazine's alleged links to Viktor Orbán and Fidesz has been the subject of criticism by liberal outlets.