TheBelgium–Luxembourg Economic Union (Dutch:Belgisch-Luxemburgse Economische Unie,French:Union économique belgo-luxembourgeoise,German:Belgisch-Luxemburgische Wirtschaftsunion,Luxembourgish:Belsch-Lëtzebuerger Wirtschaftsunioun), abbreviated toBLEU orUEBL, is aneconomic union betweenBelgium andLuxembourg, two countries in theBenelux Union.
BLEU was created by a treaty, signed on 25 July 1921, despite areferendum against such a proposal, between Belgium andLuxembourg, and came into effect upon ratification by theLuxembourg Chamber of Deputies on 22 December 1922.[1][2] Under the terms of the treaty, the economic frontier was lifted and theBelgian franc andLuxembourg franc were set at a fixed parity (though revised in 1935 and 1944) establishing afixed exchange rate system, which existed until the introduction of theeuro. 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 signed a new convention.[3]
It has been seen as the forerunner of theBenelux Union, which was established as the Benelux Customs Union in 1944 by theLondon Customs Convention and also includes the Netherlands. While many aims of the BLEU have been subsumed by the Benelux Union, and later theEuropean Union, it still has some relevance in being able to decide more precise measures than these organisations. International trade statistics were available for BLEU only as a combined entity until 1999 when European Community rules required split information.
Compared with theZollverein, the UEBL had several advantages for Luxembourg. Belgium was only allowed to alter its customs tariffs or conclude trade treaties after consultation with the Luxembourgish government, whereas before 1918 Luxembourg had to go along with German decisions. Similarly, only Luxembourgish customs agents would operate in Luxembourg, while under the Zollverein Prussian officials had operated in Luxembourg.
The functioning of the UEBL was entrusted to a board of directors consisting of two Belgian members (including the chairman) and one Luxembourgish member, and the Higher Council of the Union (with three Belgian and two Luxembourgish members).
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