The role of the Benelux cooperation in European integration From an inspiring testing ground to a tool for executing integration? MA Thesis in European Studies Graduate School for Humanities Universiteit van Amsterdam Author: R.J.H. Flipse Student number: 10340335 Main supervisor: Dr. R.J. de Bruin Second supervisor: Dr. S. Rajagopalan December 2017 Table of contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 3 1. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................................................ 6 The Benelux as sub-regional cooperation ........................................................................................... 6 The Benelux compared to the Visegrad Group ................................................................................... 8 The debate on the Benelux and its relevance ................................................................................... 12 2. The historical Benelux ....................................................................................................................... 16 The start of cooperation .................................................................................................................... 16 Working towards the customs union ................................................................................................ 18 The pre-union agreement as the next step ....................................................................................... 20 The genuine start of interaction with the European project ............................................................ 22 The Benelux solution to Europe in crisis ........................................................................................... 26 The creation of the Benelux Economic Union ................................................................................... 29 The Benelux in the 1960s – A less effective pioneer? ....................................................................... 33 The Schengen Agreement ................................................................................................................. 34 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 36 3. The contemporary Benelux ............................................................................................................... 38 The new Benelux Treaty .................................................................................................................... 38 The 2013-2016 work programme...................................................................................................... 40 2013: the annual plan ........................................................................................................................ 42 2013: the annual report .................................................................................................................... 44 2016: the annual plan ........................................................................................................................ 46 2016: the annual report .................................................................................................................... 51 Future prospects and conclusion ...................................................................................................... 54 4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 57 Discussion .......................................................................................................................................... 58 Limitations and suggestions for further research ............................................................................. 60 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 61 2 Introduction Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg have a long history of cooperation. During the early 20th century several attempts were made to bring these countries closer together, which at first resulted in an economic union between Belgium and Luxembourg. During World War II the three countries agreed to start cooperating with each other more closely by a customs agreement. After the war this cooperation continued and expanded as the Benelux, and developed over the following decade into a real community. In 1958 the Benelux Treaty was signed. This created the Benelux Economic Union, and a leap forward was made in economic integration. Since the Benelux was ahead of other methods of integration it was seen as a pioneer. During this decade, and with great support for the aims of integration, the European project also began. The 1957 Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community, and the idea of working towards an integrated union of European countries was also envisaged. The pioneering Benelux Treaty could be seen as a testing ground for European integration as well as a source of inspiration for it. However, although the economic integration of the Benelux continued over the following decades, along with the development of Benelux institutions, there was no high level of political integration. The Benelux remained an inter-governmental union that focused on connecting the economies of the Benelux countries. The European project, however, continued with the establishment of the common market, the European Union and the monetary union. Because of this deep economic integration at the European level, much of the function of the Benelux seemed to be replaced by it. As its formerly pioneering and inspiring role was called into question, a debate emerged centred on the relevance of the Benelux. In 2008 a new Benelux Treaty was signed, in which its competences were expanded to areas such as sustainability and legal affairs.1 As this would take the Benelux cooperation project beyond any solely economic union, the name was changed to the Benelux Union. Nevertheless this change did not result in an end to the debate, as the relevance of the Benelux remained an unresolved issue. A motion was even presented to abolish the Benelux Union. Although this did not result in any real abolition, it serves to symbolize how the Benelux struggles with its role and how its relevance is being questioned. 1 Benelux, ‘Nieuw Benelux-Verdrag’ http://www.benelux.int/nl/benelux-unie/nieuw-benelux-verdrag, accessed November 16, 2017. 3 From this debate on the relevance of the Benelux Union, it would be interesting to discover whether the role has indeed changed over the years. Originally the Benelux was seen as a way of inspiring European integration through pioneering and by being ahead of the European project in integration. However, currently many of the Benelux policies, for instance those on economic topics, seem to be based on, or heavily influenced by, European policy. This could therefore indicate that the Benelux now has a role in actually executing European integration rather than inspiring it. In this study the role of the Benelux will be further examined by looking at it both historically and through the present perspective. To do so historical and contemporary documents will be used to analyse its functioning and to gain insight into the interaction between both the Benelux and the European projects during the past and the present. When these roles become evident a comparison will be made in order to see whether a change in functioning has occurred and how this can be explained. The insights that follow from this can be useful for several reasons. First, a valuable contribution to the debate on the relevance of the Benelux will have been made. To this day little research has been done on the Benelux within such a timeframe, and the research that does exist focuses more on its history, or examines specific contemporary issues. Therefore the multidisciplinary approach of this thesis that connects political theory, history and policy analysis could shed new light on the Benelux cooperation and give greater insight into its role in its interaction with the EU. Furthermore, this thesis could help in the debate on the future of both the Benelux and the EU. As the EU engages in an ongoing discussion on the future of the European Union, the Benelux becomes more topical. A Europe integrating at different speeds, or a Europe of regions, means that the Benelux, as an integrated bloc, could attract more interest. This study on the role and functioning of the Benelux could help us gain greater understanding of how the Benelux currently acts and how it ended up with such a role. Furthermore, it can also help us to gain insights into what can be expected from the relationship between the Benelux and the EU, and to discover whether more ambitious goals can be justified. The thesis is structured as follows. First, a theoretical framework for the research will be given. For this the Benelux will be explored as an example of sub-regional cooperation. This phenomenon will be examined by looking at the various methods of such cooperation and the functions that it can have. This can help to understand the meaning of the Benelux role 4 and why it is important for its relevance. Next, the debate on the Benelux will be further explored to show more of the