Benelux Parliament

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.

Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly Benelux Interparlementaire Assemblee (Dutch) Assemblée interparlementaire Benelux (French) Interparlamentarische Versammlung der Benelux-Länder (German) Benelux interparlamentaresch Versammlung (Luxembourgish)
Type
Type	Unicameral
Structure
Seats	49 members 21 Belgium 21 Netherlands 7 Luxembourg
Political groups	Christian (14)   SGD/SVD (13)   Liberal (11)   Unaffiliated (11)
Meeting place
Belgium, 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. After some years of discussions about the extension of the competences of the Benelux Parliament, a new agreement was signed on 20 January 2015. 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.

Members

The Benelux Parliament consists of 49 members: 21 Members of Parliament from Belgium, 21 from the Netherlands and 7 from Luxembourg. The 21 Belgian members are elected from amongst both Chambers of the Belgian Federal Parliament and by the Parliaments of the Communities and Regions of Belgium. The 21 Dutch members are elected from the Senate and House of Representatives of the States General of the Netherlands. The seven Luxembourg members are elected from amongst the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg. There is also one acting member for each of the 49 members, who can replace that member if necessary.

The members of the Benelux Parliament are divided into four factions. The Christian faction includes members of the CD&V, the CSP, and the N-VA from Belgium; the CDA, the CU, and the NSC from the Netherlands; and the CSV and the ADR from Luxembourg. The socialist/green SGD/SVD faction (Dutch: Socialisten, Groenen en Democraten, French: Socialistes, Verts et Démocrates) includes members of the PS and Ecolo-Groen from Belgium; GroenLinks, the PvdA, and the SP from the Netherlands; and The Greens and the LSAP from Luxembourg. The liberal faction includes members of the VLD and the MR from Belgium, the VVD and the D66 from the Netherlands, and the DP from Luxembourg. The VB and the PVDA-PTB from Belgium and the BBB, and the OPNL from the Netherlands are not part of any faction. In the past, Vooruit from Belgium sat in the SGD/SVD faction and CDH from Belgium was in the Christian group, while the FvD, JA21, and the PvdD from the Netherlands were not part of any group.

List of members

As of July 2024^[update].

Name	Country	Chamber	Party	Group
Barbara Agostino	Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	DP		Liberal
Fatimazhra Belhirch	Netherlands	Senate	D66		Liberal
Ilse Bezaan	Netherlands	Senate	PVV		None
Theo Bovens	Netherlands	Senate	CDA		Christian
Glimina Chakor	Netherlands	House of Representatives	GL		SGD/SVD
Francine Closener	Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	LSAP		SGD/SVD
Steven Coenegrachts	Belgium	Flemish Parliament	Open VLD		Liberal
Patricia Creutz	Belgium	Parliament of the German-speaking Community	CSP		Christian
Roberto D'Amico	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	PVDA-PTB		None
Johan Deckmyn	Belgium	Flemish Parliament	VB		None
Daan de Kort	Netherlands	House of Representatives	VVD		Liberal
Peter De Roover	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	N-VA		Christian
Wouter De Vriendt	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	Groen		SGD/SVD
Emile Eicher	Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	CSV		Christian
Jeff Engelen	Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	ADR		Christian
Yves Evrard	Belgium	Parliament of the French Community	MR		Liberal
Jean-Philippe Florent	Belgium	Parliament of Wallonia	Ecolo		SGD/SVD
Gusty Graas	Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	DP		Liberal
Gwenaëlle Grovonius	Belgium	Parliament of Wallonia	PS		SGD/SVD
Rik Janssen	Netherlands	Senate	SP		SGD/SVD
Roelien Kamminga	Netherlands	House of Representatives	VVD		Liberal
Saskia Kluit	Netherlands	Senate	GL		SGD/SVD
Joris Nachtergaele	Belgium	Flemish Parliament	N-VA		Christian
Mohammed Ouriaghli	Belgium	Parliament of the French Community	PS		SGD/SVD
Amandine Pavet	Belgium	Parliament of the French Community	PVDA-PTB		None
Benoît Piedboeuf	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	MR		Liberal
Anita Pijpelink	Netherlands	House of Representatives	PvdA		SGD/SVD
Artie Ramsodit-de Graaf	Netherlands	Senate	PvdA		SGD/SVD
Tinne Rombouts	Belgium	Flemish Parliament	CD&V		Christian
Daniel Senesael	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	PS		SGD/SVD
Meris Šehović	Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	DG		SGD/SVD
Hendrik-Jan Talsma	Netherlands	Senate	CU		Christian
Olivier Vajda	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	Ecolo		SGD/SVD
Pim van Ballekom	Netherlands	Senate	VVD		Liberal
Thom van Campen	Netherlands	House of Representatives	VVD		Liberal
Jef Van den Bergh	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	CD&V		Christian
Tim Vandenput	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	Open VLD		Liberal
Wim Van der Donckt	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	N-VA		Christian
Auke van der Goot	Netherlands	Senate	OPNL		None
Olger van Dijk	Netherlands	House of Representatives	NSC		Christian
Alexander van Hattem	Netherlands	Senate	PVV		None
Ton van Kesteren	Netherlands	Senate	PVV		None
Karl Vanlouwe	Belgium	Flemish Parliament	N-VA		Christian
Elly van Wijk	Netherlands	Senate	BBB		None
Henk Vermeer	Netherlands	House of Representatives	BBB		None
Hans Verreyt	Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	VB		None
Geert Wilders	Netherlands	House of Representatives	PVV		None
Femke Zeedijk-Raeven	Netherlands	House of Representatives	NSC		Christian
Laurent Zeimet	Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies	CSV		Christian

Party groups

The Benelux Parliament comprises the following party groups:

Name	Ideology	Political Group	Benelux Parliament
Christian Group	Christian democracy Liberal conservatism Conservatism Centrism	EPP Group, ECR	14 / 49
Liberal Group	Liberalism Conservative liberalism Classical liberalism Social liberalism	Renew	11 / 49
Socialists, Greens and Democrats	Social democracy Green politics Democratic socialism	The Left, Greens/EFA, S&D	13 / 49

Seat

The seat of the Benelux Parliament rotates among the cities of Brussels, The Hague and Luxembourg. Each of these cities hosts the plenary meetings of the Benelux Parliament for two consecutive years. The Benelux Parliament met in Luxembourg in 2013 and 2014, in Brussels in 2015 and 2016, and meets in The Hague in 2017 and 2018. The Secretariat of the Benelux Parliament is located in Brussels.

Notes

1. Belgium:
     N-VA (4)
     CD&V (2)
     CSP (1)
   Netherlands:
     NSC (2)
     CDA (1)
     CU (1)
   Luxembourg:
     CSV (2)
     ADR (1)
2. Belgium:
     PS (3)
     Ecolo (2)
     Groen (1)
   Netherlands:
     GL (2)
     PvdA (2)
     SP (1)
   Luxembourg:
     LSAP (1)
     DG (1)
3. Belgium:
     MR (2)
     Open VLD (2)
   Netherlands:
     VVD (4)
     D66 (1)
   Luxembourg:
     DP (2)
4. Belgium:
     PVDA-PTB (2)
     VB (2)
   Netherlands:
     PVV (4)
     BBB (2)
     OPNL (1)
5. 10 Chamber of Representatives
   5 Flemish Parliament
   2 Parliament of the French Community
   2 Parliament of Wallonia
   1 Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region
   1 Parliament of the German-speaking Community
6. 12 House of Representatives
   9 Senate
7. 7 Chamber of Deputies

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