270px The Benelux is a union in Western Europe that comprises three neighboring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (België/Belgique/Belgien - Nederland - Lëtzebuerg/Luxembourg/Luxemburg), which lie in the north western European region between France and Germany. The name is formed from the beginning of each country's name; it was possibly created for the Benelux Customs Union, although according to The Economist it was coined somewhat earlier, in August 1946, by that newspaper's correspondent in Belgium. However, it is now used in a more generic way. The Benelux region has a total population of about 27,725,734 and occupies an area of approximately 74,640 km² (28,819 sq mi). Thus, the Benelux has a population density of 371/km² (958/sq mi).
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270px The Benelux is a union in Western Europe that comprises three neighboring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (België/Belgique/Belgien - Nederland - Lëtzebuerg/Luxembourg/Luxemburg), which lie in the north western European region between France and Germany. The name is formed from the beginning of each country's name; it was possibly created for the Benelux Customs Union, although according to The Economist it was coined somewhat earlier, in August 1946, by that newspaper's correspondent in Belgium. However, it is now used in a more generic way. The Benelux region has a total population of about 27,725,734 and occupies an area of approximately 74,640 km² (28,819 sq mi). Thus, the Benelux has a population density of 371/km² (958/sq mi).
Politics
A Benelux Parliament (originally referred to as Interparliamentary Consultative Council) was created in 1955. This parliamentary assembly is composed of 21 members of the Dutch parliament, 21 members of the Belgian national and regional parliaments, and 7 members of the Luxembourgish parliament.
The treaty establishing the Benelux Economic Union (Benelux Economische Unie/Union Économique Benelux) was signed on February 3, 1958 and came into force in 1960 to promote the free movement of workers, capital, services, and goods in the region. Its secretariat-general is located in Brussels. The unification of the law of the three Benelux countries is mainly achieved by regulations of its Council of Ministers, that only bind the three states, but are not directly applicable in their internal legal orders. There is also a large number of Benelux conventions in a wide range of subject matters.
Law
In 1965, the treaty establishing a Benelux Court of Justice was signed. It entered into force in 1975. The Court, composed of judges from the highest courts of the three States, has to guarantee the uniform interpretation of common legal rules. This international judicial institution is located in Brussels.
The Benelux is particularly active in the field of intellectual property. The three countries established a Benelux Trademarks Office and a Benelux Designs Office, both situated in The Hague. In 2005, they concluded a treaty establishing a Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property which replaced both offices upon its entry into force on September 1, 2006.
Geography, demographics and languages
Out of the total of about 27.7 million people living in the member states, 22.61 million (82%) live in the Netherlands or the Flemish Region, where Dutch is the sole official language. The officially French-speaking Walloon Region has 3.5 million inhabitants (12.5%), while a majority of the Brussels Capital-Region (3.8%) —although officially bilingual French-Dutch— is also Francophone. Luxembourg (1.74%) is officially trilingual with Luxembourgish as a "national language", the latter being a standardised High German dialect. Combined with the German-speaking Community of Belgium, this adds up to an estimated 2% of native German-speakers.
