The Group was informally established on 17 December 2013 in Brussels at the initiative of the Foreign Ministers of Cyprus and Spain in order to create coordination on issues of common interest within the EU.[4]
It was decided that the group would hold an annual meeting at the ministerial level. The first ministerial meeting was to take place in Greece in 2014, during Greece's presidency of the Council, but instead took place on 14 April in Alicante.[5][6][7]
The second meeting took place in February 2015 in Paris.[8] The 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the Mediterranean Group took place in Cyprus in February 2016 which was also attended by the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Fathallah Sijilmassi. The Foreign Ministers discussed security and stability issues in North Africa and the Middle East as well as the handling of the migration crisis.[9][10][11]
The Group held its 1st Southern EU countries' Summit on 9 September 2016 at the Zappeion Palace in Athens.[12] Following the summit, the Athens Declaration was issued calling for investment to tackle youth unemployment and support growth, as well as stronger EU cooperation on issues of security and migration.[13][14] The next summit is scheduled to take place in Spain, at the Royal Palace of El Pardo.[15]
The seventh meeting was made on 10 September 2020 in Porticcio, Corsica, and concerned Turkey's concurrent unilateral activities in the eastern Mediterranean.[16]
In 2021 it was announced during the Prime MinisterJanez Janša's visit to Greece that Slovenia will join the group with a support of France, Spain and Greece.
Croatia and Slovenia first attended 17 September 2021 Athens meeting. [17][18]
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