In 1951 it was proposed to church leaders in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA that teenagers from Germany be brought to the United States to live with a family and attend high school for a year.

The first "exchange" from the United States to Germany was a summer program with 30 US high school students organized by MCC-alumni.

The national organisations from the United States, Germany and Japan as the largest members are constantly represented; the remaining sites are occupied in turn by other partners.

The mission of EEE-YFU is to advance intercultural understanding, mutual respect, and social responsibility through educational exchanges for youth, families, and communities.

[citation needed] Founded to allow young Germans the opportunity to experience another culture outside of their own, YFU organised for them to go on exchange to the United States to see what life was like there and to develop an understanding of democracy.

Since then YFU has grown and now sends young people between 15 and 18 years old on international high school exchanges to other countries, where the students will live with and become a part of a host family.

In supporting its members, EEE-YFU has the following aims: to promote intercultural understanding through youth exchange programmes in Europe; to enhance the public visibility for Youth For Understanding in Europe and with European institutions and organisations; to enrich the experience of European exchange students by facilitating educational and content related activities; to facilitate co-operation and networking between member organisations and to provide membership services; to facilitate intra-European activities such as seminars, meetings and conferences on various topics; and to assist in planning and conducting international training for staff and volunteers.

The EEE-YFU board has the ultimate responsibility for the overall strategic direction of the organisation, as well as the European Secretariat based in its office in Brussels.

EEE-YFU works alongside a number of external organisations, and is regularly granted funding for projects and initiatives by European institutions and other bodies.

EEE-YFU organises activities such as study sessions, trainings and seminars on various cultural and youth-related issues both nationally and on a European level.

An important feature of EEE-YFU's activities is to encourage those students who have participated in exchanges to continue to be involved with YFU by volunteering once they return home.

[11] The following YFU national organisations are members of EEE-YFU: Austria, Belgium (Flanders & Wallonia), Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey.