The Benelux Parliament (officially known as the Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly) is one of the institutions of the

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

economic union. The Parliament was established by an agreement signed by

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

on 5 November 1955, which means it had already existed for three years when the Benelux Union was signed on 3 February 1958. The Benelux Parliament provides the governments with advice on economic and cross-frontier cooperation. Its recommendations may also concern other matters if common interests or current events so dictate. The parliament also keeps the three governments informed about the opinions that move in the parliamentary assemblies from which its members originate.Benelux Parliament
, benelux-parliament.eu. Retrieved 2014-3-4. In its session on 12 and 13 June 2009, the Benelux Parliament unanimously adopted a recommendation to modernise its way of working and to review the agreement signed between the three Benelux states. After some years of discussions about the extension of the competences of the Benelux Parliament, a new agreement was signed on 20 January 2015. It strengthened the right to interpellation and improved the parliament's ways of working. An extension of its competences to include a right of decision was not included. This new agreement changed the official name of the Parliament from the previous ''Benelux Interparliamentary Consultative Council'' to its current official name.

Members

The Benelux Parliament consists of 49 members: 21 Members of Parliament from

, 21 from the

and 7 from

. The 21 Belgian members are elected from amongst both Chambers of the Belgian Federal Parliament and by the Parliaments of the Communities and Regions of Belgium. The 21 Dutch members are elected from the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

of the

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate (Netherlands), Senate () and the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of R ...

. The seven Luxembourg members are elected from amongst the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg. There is also one acting member for each of the 49 members, who can replace that member if necessary. The members of the Benelux Parliament are divided into four factions. The

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faction includes members of the CD&V, the CSP and the N-VA from Belgium, the CDA, the CU and the NSC from the Netherlands, and the CSV and the ADR from Luxembourg. The

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

SGD/SVD faction (, ) includes members of the PS and Ecolo- Groen from Belgium,

GroenLinks (, ; GL) is a Green politics, green List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four Left-wing politics, left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Neth ...

, the PvdA, and the SP from the Netherlands, and The Greens and the LSAP from Luxembourg. The liberal faction includes members of the VLD and the MR from Belgium, the VVD and the D66 from the Netherlands, and the DP from Luxembourg. The VB and the PVDA-PTB from Belgium and the BBB, and the OPNL from the Netherlands are not part of any faction. In the past, Vooruit from Belgium sat in the SGD/SVD faction and CDH from Belgium was in the Christian group, while the FvD, JA21, and the PvdD from the Netherlands were not part of any group.

List of members

Party groups

The Benelux Parliament comprises the following party groups:

Seat

The seat of the Benelux Parliament rotates among the cities of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and

. Each of these cities hosts the plenary meetings of the Benelux Parliament for two consecutive years. The Benelux Parliament met in Luxembourg in 2013 and 2014, in Brussels in 2015 and 2016, and meets in The Hague in 2017 and 2018. The Secretariat of the Benelux Parliament is located in

Notes

References

External links

*
Official website of the Benelux Parliament
{{Authority control Benelux Parliamentary assemblies 1955 establishments in Europe Belgium–Luxembourg relations Belgium–Netherlands relations Luxembourg–Netherlands relations Organizations established in 1955 International diplomatic organizations International organizations based in Europe Organizations based in Europe Government agencies established in 1955 Diplomacy Geopolitics Global politics International relations International security