Benelux Parliament

Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly Benelux Interparlementaire Assemblee (Dutch) Assemblée interparlementaire Benelux (French)
Type
Type	Unicameral
Structure
Seats	49 members 21  Belgium [e] 21  Netherlands [f] 7  Luxembourg [g]
Political groups	SGD/SVD (13) [a]   Christian (13) [b]   Liberal (12) [c]   Unaffiliated (11) [d]
Meeting place
Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
Website
www.beneluxparl.eu

The Benelux Parliament (officially known as the Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly) is one of the institutions of the Benelux economic union. The Parliament was established by 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 signed on 3 February 1958. The Benelux Parliament provides the governments with advice on economic and cross-frontier 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]

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 official name of the Parliament from the previous Benelux Interparliamentary Consultative Council to its current official name.

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