Benelux Parliament
Parliament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly, commonly known as the Benelux Parliament, is one of the institutions of the Benelux Union. The assembly was established through an agreement signed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on 5 November 1955, which means it had already existed for three years when the Benelux Union was established on 3 February 1958. The Benelux Parliament provides the governments with advice on economic and transnational 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.[1]
Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly | |
|---|---|
| |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 5 November 1955 |
| Leadership | |
President | Francine Closener, SGD |
Vice-President | Yves Evrard, Liberal |
Vice-President | Pim van Ballekom, Liberal |
| Structure | |
| Seats |
|
 | |
Political groups | |
| Meeting place | |
| Various places in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg | |
| Website | |
| beneluxparl.eu | |
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.[2] After some years of discussions about the extension of the competences of the Benelux Parliament, a new agreement was signed on 20 January 2015.[3] 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 parliament's official name from the previous Benelux Interparliamentary Consultative Council to its current official name.
Members
The Benelux Parliament consists of 49 members: 21 delegates from Belgium, 21 delegates of the States General of the Netherlands, and 7 delegates of the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg. The Belgian members are elected from amongst the members of the Chamber of Representatives and the parliaments of the communities and regions.[f] For each of the 49 members, there is a substitute member who can replace that member if necessary.[1]
Political groups
The members of the Benelux Parliament are divided into four political groups.[4] The Christian group includes members of CD&V, the CSP, Les Engagés (LE), and the N-VA from Belgium; the BBB, the CDA, the Christian Union (CU), and OPNL from the Netherlands; and the CSV and the ADR from Luxembourg. The Socialists, Greens and Democrats (SGD)[5] group includes members of Vooruit and the PS from Belgium; Pro and the SP from the Netherlands; and The Greens (DG) and the LSAP from Luxembourg. The Liberal group includes members of the MR from Belgium; the VVD and D66 from the Netherlands; and the DP from Luxembourg. Vlaams Belang (VB) from Belgium and the PVV from the Netherlands form their own joint group.
The PVDA-PTB from Belgium does not belong to any group. In the past, FVD, JA21, and the PvdD from the Netherlands were not part of any group. The SGD included GroenLinks and PvdA from the Netherlands and Ecolo and Groen from Belgium.[6]
| Name | Parliamentary leader | Ideologies | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Group with Regionalists and Democratic Allies | Theo Bovens | Christian democracy Conservatism |
17 / 49 | |
| Liberal Group | Jan Schoonis | Liberalism | 14 / 49 | |
| Socialists, Greens and Democrats | Patrick Prévot | Social democracy Green politics Democratic socialism |
10 / 49 | |
| Vlaams Belang–Party for Freedom | Barbara Pas | Nationalism Right-wing populism |
7 / 49 | |
| Non-attached members | — | — | 1 / 49 | |
List of members
As of April 2026[update]:[4][7]
Meeting place
The meeting place of the Benelux Parliament rotates among Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Each of these countries hosts the plenary meetings of the Benelux Parliament for two consecutive years. The secretariat of the Benelux Parliament is located in Brussels, Belgium.
 Luxembourg |
 Belgium |
 Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| 2013–2014 | 2015–2016 | 2017–2018 |
| 2019–2020 | 2021–2022 | 2023–2024 |
| 2025–2026 | 2027–2028 | 2029–2030 |
Notes
- 10 from the Chamber of Representatives, 5 from the Flemish Parliament, 2 from the Parliament of the French Community, 2 from the Parliament of Wallonia, 1 from the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, and 1 from the Parliament of the German-speaking Community.
