Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union
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The Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union (French: Union économique belgo-luxembourgeoise, Dutch: Belgisch-Luxemburgse Economische Unie, Luxembourgish: Belsch-Lëtzebuerger Wirtschaftsunioun), abbreviated to BLEU or UEBL, is an economic and monetary union between Belgium and Luxembourg, two countries in the Benelux economic union.
BLEU was created by a treaty, signed on 25 July 1921, between Belgium and Luxembourg, and came into effect upon ratification by the Luxembourgian Chamber of Deputies on 22 December 1922.[1] The original treaty lasted for fifty years, expiring in 1972; this was extended for ten years in 1982 and again in 1992. On 18 December 2002, the two countries and the three regions of Belgium signed a new convention.
Under the terms of the treaty, the economic frontier was lifted and the Belgian franc and Luxembourgian franc were set at a fixed parity (though revised in 1935 and 1944). International trade statistics were only available for BLEU as a combined entity until 1999, when European Community rules required split information.
It has been seen as the forerunner of Benelux, which also includes the Netherlands.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Kreins (2003), pp.92–3
[edit] References
- (French) Kreins, Jean-Marie (2003). Histoire du Luxembourg, 3rd edition, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN 978-21-3053-852-3.
es:Unión Económica Belgo-Luxemburguesa fr:Union économique belgo-luxembourgeoise lb:Belsch-Lëtzebuerger Wirtschaftsunioun nl:Belgisch-Luxemburgse Economische Unie
