Lehigh Preserve Institutional Repository Benelux Economic Union - A new Role for the Twenty-First Century Walsh, M. Jeremy 2008 Find more at https://preserve.lib.lehigh.edu/ This document is brought to you for free and open access by Lehigh Preserve. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of Lehigh Preserve. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BENELUX ECONOMIC UNION — A NEW ROLE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY M. Jeremy Walsh Introduction revocation in 2010. This marks the first time since its signing that the member nations are The Treaty of the Benelux Economic Union in a position to significantly alter its original (BEU) has served as a quintessential example of provisions. The numerous conferences, dis- international integration and collaboration cussions, and meetings that have already taken since its chartering in 1958. A descendant agree- place addressing this issue reflect its critical ment of the Benelux Customs Union of 1944, importance to the Benelux nations. Despite the BEU is a formal organization comprised of the sizable growth and increased effectiveness representatives from the Netherlands, Luxem- of the BEU in the last five decades, the reality bourg, and Belgium. These representatives, is that a larger number of its competencies1 have structured in a hierarchal system of committees been supplanted by the European Union. These and groups, focus upon the coordination of gen- include the Treaty’s two main provisions: the eral economic principles and policy among removal of international border restrictions and the three member nations. The current policies the expansion of a common market within the and issues under the BEU’s purview range from Benelux boundaries. business law to capital investment to the move- The Benelux Economic Union thus finds ment of people and goods. At its heart, the itself at a turning point in its history, as well Union is a catalyst for the Benelux, allowing its member nations to enhance their financial 1In the context of the BEU, “competencies” (or some- and economic standing via intensive cross- times “competences”) refer to policy areas in which the border cooperation. Union has a significant or expert amount of knowledge and experience. Having implemented standardized currency Having run the course of its initial char- rates across the Benelux nations decades before the euro, tering of fifty years, the Treaty establishing for example, it could be said that one of the BEU’s early com- the BEU is scheduled for revision, renewal, or petencies was policy relating to currency standardization. 23 as in the history of its member nations. Prelim- located precariously between the major Euro- inary discussions on behalf of the Benelux coun- pean powers France and Germany. tries have revealed that none of their three This location in Europe would lead to governments would like to see the Treaty termi- physical destruction, economic stagnation, and nated. (“The Future of the Benelux Cooperation great loss of life for the Benelux nations through . ,” p. 1) The question for the future of the World War I and World War II. It was in reac- organization therefore becomes one of iden- tion to the significant devastation of the latter tity and function. What specific role does this conflict that the first stirrings of the Benelux Union, a well-established entity that coordinates Economic Union emerged. In September 1944, the efforts and policies of three highly developed the exiled governments of the Benelux nations nations, have in a centralizing twenty-first cen- began to construct plans for economic collab- tury Europe? oration and mutual aid. These plans came to In this article I begin with a brief his- fruition in the Benelux Customs Union, a joint tory of the Benelux Economic Union, including entity initially comprised of representatives its original function and how this was affected from the Benelux nations aimed at both eco- by the formation of the European Union. I nomic and political cooperation. Successes in examine the possible avenues of cooperation various economic pursuits in the decade follow- that the BEU may explore in the coming years, ing the war, including the removal of internal depending on the changes to its Treaty in 2010. trade boundaries and the coordination of exter- These include changes to the existing BEU nal tariffs, eventually led to the signing of the infrastructure, extension of the Treaty’s provi- Treaty of the Benelux Economic Union in 1958. sions beyond Benelux borders, and the integra- This Treaty outlined the basic provisions of tion of political cooperation into the Treaty’s the three nations’ joint economic policies, the primary goals. Additionally, I analyze the role main goals of those policies, and how such coor- of the BEU as a “European Laboratory” by delv- dination should be implemented. (Treaty Estab- ing into potential new competencies, including lishing the Benelux Economic Union, p. 2) those pertaining to prominent societal and geo- graphic issues. Current Function of the Benelux Economic Union Brief History of the Benelux In the 50 years since the Treaty’s inception, The three nations comprising the Benelux the Benelux nations, the BEU, and Europe as — Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Nether- a whole have been transformed. In its first lands — have shared close cultural, geographic, decades, the BEU served as a revolutionary and societal ties for hundreds of years. Despite and ground-breaking catalyst for economic inte- differences in political ideology and practice, gration across international borders. Its mem- their history is shaped by these ties, and often ber nations explored the benefit and proper the three have been grouped together into a sin- execution of competencies, including free move- gle conglomerate known as the “Low Coun- ment of people and goods, international bank- tries.” The Kingdoms of the Netherlands and ing and investment, corporate law, and civil Belgium as we see them today were officially rights. So effective was this implementation, and founded in 1839, following centuries of terri- so influential the voice of the Benelux with torial wars between such factions as the Haps- regard to further integration, that many credit burg Empire, the House of Orange, and various the BEU as the precursor of the European Austrian Kingdoms. (Janssen, pp. 3–4) The final Coal and Steel Community. This organization development in the formation of the three would serve as the first step toward integra- nations was in 1890, when Adolf of Nassau tion into the European Commission and, finally, assumed the title of Grand Duke of Luxem- the European Union. bourg, a title previously held by the Dutch King. It is because of these initial steps that Thus with the turn of the twentieth century many throughout Europe came to regard the came the emergence of three geographically Benelux and the BEU as the “Laboratory of small but culturally distinct nation-states, Europe” mentioned earlier. The title refers to 24 the three nations’ economic and social coop- the Union itself and delegating tasks and assign- eration during the mid to late twentieth cen- ments to the other BEU committees. It fur- tury. The “experimentation” by the BEU in the ther works to establish collaborative policies areas of economics and international discussion without committing any Benelux nations to spe- during that time period proved that an unprece- cific action prior to obtaining the assent of their dented level of collaboration was both possible governments. (Treaty Establishing the Benelux and could be highly successful. Seeing the Economic Union, pp. 5–6) BEU put theory into effective action in the 1950s In addition to the various subcommit- and ’60s further eased the later transition of tees and delegations established on an ad hoc Europe from isolated nations into the mod- basis, the four main constituent committees ern-day EU. Benelux diplomats now argue that of the BEU are the Council of the Economic the BEU’s current infrastructure and high Union, the General Secretariat, the Council of level of development mean that its laboratory Justice, and the Office of Intellectual Property. role could continue into new areas of experi- The first of these is the most prominent within mentation. These would include new competen- the original Treaty’s framework. It is essentially cies not yet fully addressed by the EU, such as second-in-command to the Committee of Min- land use, pollution policy, and energy use, isters, oversees the activities of any economic among others. ad hoc committee, and issues the directives that One of the biggest issues facing the cur- actually drive BEU action. The General Secre- rent Benelux Economic Union is that its very tariat serves as the administrative and logis- success has led to most of its functions being tics network for the BEU, connecting together transferred to the higher European level. As its member nations, diplomats, and various originally defined, the Treaty’s provisions deal committees. The Council of Justice is an inter- almost exclusively with joint economic policy. national dispute-settling forum in which citi- The majority of those policies have been adopted zens, groups, or government entities may file by the European Union, resulting in the sup- complaints and appeals with the Council in planting of much of the BEU’s purpose during the interest of receiving fair judgment. Lastly, the last decade. The European Commission the Office of Intellectual Property is a body Treaty expressly recognizes the Benelux Eco- that seeks to make trademark and copyright nomic Union as a formal entity within the EU protection uniform throughout the whole of the through Article 306. However, it also restricts Benelux. (Treaty Establishing the Benelux . , the application of present-day BEU policy to pp. 2–13) It is through the evolution of these those issues not covered by the EU.