E.F.C.C.A. = European Federation of Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Associations = at present 23 national associations are EFCCA members.

LOEKIE COMMITTEE = Group which represents the participants of the European Youth Meetings (see EYM definition below). The five members of the Loekie committee are elected by the EYM participants during the meeting. The format of the election process is chosen by the participants of the EYM (usually the so called "rotation system").

E.Y.G. = EFCCA Youth Group = A joint working group of 7 persons inside the EFCCA made up of the Loekie Committee of 5 persons (see previous definition) and of 2 EFCCA delegates (both serving for two years), one of whom should be drawn from the EFCCA executive committee.

EUROPEAN YOUTH MEETING = also defined as the EFCCA YOUTH MEETING or INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF (OR FOR) YOUNG PEOPLE WITH IBD, hereinafter EYM = An event organized by a national association with the purpose of encouraging youngsters, who are working in the youth sector of their national association, to meet and exchange views and experiences. In the past it was called the "International Meeting for Young People with IBD" (IYM). The event was hosted for the first time in Germany in 1998 (Erlangen). Several meetings have followed:

• Amsterdam (1999)
• London (2000)
• Stockholm (2001)
• Antwerp (2002)
• Berlin (2003)
• Rome (2004)
• Edinburgh (2005)
• Budapest (2006)
• Graz (2007)

In 1998 the German Crohn's and Ulcerative colitis association invited active youngsters from a variety of countries for a meeting. The first "international meeting" was born. During the discussion groups we exchanged ideas and experiences about activities and services for youngsters. Everyone was eager to speak and - perhaps even better - eager to learn! During "free time" we continued our discussions, but then more on a personal level.

In Erlangen not only the first international meeting was born, strong friendships were born as well. Although we spent just a couple of days together, it felt like we had known each other for years.

In 1999 the second international meeting was born in Amsterdam. we exchanged ‘best practises' again, however this time there was an Italian participant who spoke about the idea of developing a European youngsters commission. And since then he did not let go of this idea. Amsterdam was not ready yet for concrete steps in that direction. However during every next meeting (London, Stockholm, Antwerp) the idea became more and more concrete. The next challenge was to convince EFCCA that a youngsters committee would fit excellent within EFCCA.

It took a lot of time, documents, speeches, meetings and hard work before the actual commission became reality. But finally it did! Definitely an important milestone for IBD youngsters throughout Europe.