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.

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.

[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.