Editing Benelux (section)

== Politics ==
[[File:Benelux.png|thumb|Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg form the Benelux]]

===Benelux institutions===
Under the 2008 treaty there are five Benelux institutions: the Benelux Committee of Ministers, the Benelux Council, the Benelux Parliament, the Benelux Court of Justice, the Benelux Secretariat General. Beside these five institutions, the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property is also an independent organisation.

'''Benelux Committee of Ministers:'''
The Committee of Ministers is the supreme decision-making body of the Benelux. It includes at least one representative at ministerial level from the three countries. Its composition varies according to its agenda. The ministers determine the orientations and priorities of Benelux cooperation. The presidency of the Committee rotates between the three countries on an annual basis.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-04 |title=The Benelux |url=http://gouvernement.lu/en/dossiers/2018/benelux.html |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=gouvernement.lu |language=en}}</ref>

'''Benelux Council:'''
The council is composed of senior officials from the relevant ministries. Its composition varies according to its agenda. The council's main task is to prepare the dossiers for the ministers.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Vermeulen|first1=Gert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I1lVBgAAQBAJ&q=Benelux+Council&pg=PA25|title=Justice, Home Affairs and Security. European and international institutional and policy development|last2=Bondt|first2=Wendy De|date=2015-01-28|publisher=Maklu|isbn=978-90-466-0747-3|pages=25|language=en}}</ref>

'''Benelux InterParliamentary Consultative Council:'''
The [[Benelux Parliament]] (officially referred to as an "Interparliamentary Consultative Council") was created in 1955. This [[International parliament|parliamentary assembly]] is composed of 49 members from the respective national parliaments (21 members of the Dutch parliament, 21 members of the Belgian national and regional parliaments, and 7 members of the Luxembourg parliament). Its members inform and advise their respective governments on all Benelux matters.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Puig|first=Lluís Maria de|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2QkONZLFZAC&q=Benelux+Parliament+comprises+49+representatives&pg=PA70|title=International Parliaments|date=2008-01-01|publisher=Council of Europe|isbn=978-92-871-6450-6|pages=70|language=en}}</ref> On 20 January 2015, the governments of the three countries, including, as far as Belgium is concerned, the community and regional governments, signed in Brussels the Treaty of the Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.beneluxparl.eu/wp-content/uploads/documents/09_Verdragen/2015-Verdrag-over-de-Benelux-Interparlementaire-Assemblee.pdf| title = PDF.}}</ref> This treaty entered into force on 1 August 2019. This superseded the 1955 Convention on the Consultative Interparliamentary Council for the Benelux. The official name has been largely obsolete in daily practice for a number of years: both internally in the Benelux and in external references, the name Benelux Parliament has been used ''de facto'' for a number of years now.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

'''Benelux Court of Justice:'''
The Benelux Court of Justice is an international court. Its mission is to promote uniformity in the application of Benelux legislation. When faced with difficulty interpreting a common Benelux legal rule, national courts must seek an interpretive ruling from the Benelux Court, which subsequently renders a binding decision{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}. The members of the Court are appointed from among the judges of the [[Court of Cassation (Belgium)|'Cour de cassation']] of Belgium, the [[Supreme Court of the Netherlands|'Hoge Raad of the Netherlands']] and the 'Cour de cassation' of Luxembourg{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Belkahla|first=Mehdi|title=Benelux Court of Justice|url=https://www.mpi.lu/fileadmin/mpi/medien/research/MPEiPro/Benelux_CJ_law-mpeipro-e1265.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203072432/https://www.mpi.lu/fileadmin/mpi/medien/research/MPEiPro/Benelux_CJ_law-mpeipro-e1265.pdf |archive-date=3 February 2020 }}</ref>

'''Benelux General Secretariat:'''
The General Secretariat, which is based in Brussels, forms the cooperation platform of the Benelux Union. It acts as the secretariat of the Committee of Ministers, the council and various commissions and working groups{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}. The General Secretariat has years of expertise in the area of Benelux cooperation and is familiar with the policy agreements and differences between the three countries. Building on what already been achieved, the General Secretariat puts its knowledge, network and experience at the service of partners and stakeholders who endorse its mission.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Benelux |url=https://www.benelux.int/fr/}}</ref> It initiates, supports and monitors cooperation results in the areas of economy, sustainability and security.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Économie |url=https://www.benelux.int/fr/info-citoyen/themes-prioritaires/economie/ |website=le Secrétariat général de l’Union Benelux}}</ref>

The Secretary General of the Benelux is Frans Weekers (NL), the Deputy Secretary General is Michel-Etienne Tilemans (BE) and Jean-Claude Meyer (LU)

Benelux works together on the basis of an annual plan embedded in a four-year joint work programme.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.benelux.int/files/8514/9933/4534/Common_Work_Programme_2017-2020.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.benelux.int/files/8514/9933/4534/Common_Work_Programme_2017-2020.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Common Work Programme |publisher=Benelux Union |date=January 2017 |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref>

=== Benelux legal instruments ===
The Benelux Union involves intergovernmental cooperation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.urm.lt/default/en/foreign-policy/lithuania-in-the-region-and-the-world/regional-cooperation/intergovernmental-cooperation-of-the-baltic-and-the-benelux-countries|title=Intergovernmental cooperation of the Baltic and the Benelux countries {{pipe}} Regional cooperation {{pipe}} Lithuania in the Region and the World {{pipe}} Foreign Policy {{pipe}} Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=22 December 2016|archive-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018134443/https://www.urm.lt/default/en/foreign-policy/lithuania-in-the-region-and-the-world/regional-cooperation/intergovernmental-cooperation-of-the-baltic-and-the-benelux-countries|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Treaty establishing the Benelux Union explicitly provides that the Benelux Committee of Ministers can resort to four legal instruments (art. 6, paragraph 2, under a), f), g) and h)):<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 February 1958 |title=trait_Benelux_17.06.2008Ondertekend |url=http://www.benelux.int/files/3914/0067/7093/trait_Benelux_17.06.2008Ondertekend.pdf |access-date=14 October 2022 |website=benelux.int}}</ref>

1. '''Decisions'''

Decisions are legally binding regulations for implementing the Treaty establishing the Benelux Union or other Benelux treaties.

Their legally binding force concerns the Benelux states (and their sub-state entities), which have to implement them. However, they have no direct effect towards individual citizens or companies (notwithstanding any indirect protection of their rights based on such decisions as a source of international law). Only national provisions implementing a decision can directly create rights and obligations for citizens or companies.

2. '''Agreements'''

The Committee of Ministers can draw up agreements, which are then submitted to the Benelux states (and/or their sub-state entities) for signature and subsequent parliamentary ratification. These agreements can deal with any subject matter, also in policy areas that are not yet covered by cooperation in the framework of the Benelux Union.

These are in fact traditional treaties, with the same direct legally binding force towards both authorities and citizens or companies. The negotiations do however take place in the established context of the Benelux working groups and institutions, rather than on an ad hoc basis.

3. '''Recommendations'''

Recommendations are non-binding orientations, adopted at ministerial level, which underpin the functioning of the Benelux Union. These (policy) orientations may not be legally binding, but given their adoption at the highest political level and their legal basis vested directly in the Treaty, they do entail a strong moral obligation for any authority concerned in the Benelux countries.

4. '''Directives'''

Directives of the Committee of Ministers are mere inter-institutional instructions towards the Benelux Council and/or the Secretariat-General, for which they are binding. This instrument has so far only been used occasionally, basically in order to organize certain activities within a Benelux working group or to give them impetus.

All four instruments require the unanimous approval of the members of the Committee of Ministers (and, in the case of agreements, subsequent signature and ratification at national level).