TheArraiolos Group is an informal meeting of Presidents of parliamentary and semi-presidentialEuropean Union member states, held roughly once in a year. A political forum for the heads of state ofparliamentary republics and also somesemi-presidential republics (as opposed toconstitutional monarchies or countries governed by apresidential system) whose role, according to the respective constitutions, may range from being significantly executive to largely ceremonial. It deals with questions and problems concerning the current state and future development of the EU as well as how to approach the challenges ofglobalisation.[1]
The name is derived from the small Portuguese town ofArraiolos, where the first meeting took place in 2003.Jorge Sampaio, then the President of Portugal, had invited the presidents of Finland, Germany, as well as of soon-to-be EU members Hungary, Latvia and Poland to discuss the consequences of the2004 enlargement of the European Union and plans for aConstitution for Europe.[2]
Following the 2005 meeting, the seven participating presidents wrote a joint article titled "Together for Europe" about their conception of the European community. It was published on 15 July 2005 byDiena,Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,Gazeta Wyborcza,Público,Helsingin Sanomat,la Repubblica andDer Standard, leading newspapers of the respective countries.[3]
