XC is the US model designation for that generation of bike. Lighter flywheel/ignition, no road lights/wiring, and that's pretty much it. Same as the Euro version except for the lighting and flywheel. The US importer at the time apparently was marketing the bike as a hardcore enduro/scrambles weapon, not as a trail bike, so they didn't want the extra complexity of the wires and heavier flywheel.
In short, it's an EC in Europe and an XC in the states. Everything except the wire harness and ignition rotor/stator are identical between the EC and XC.