1 – BENELUX
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
Dia 5-10
Benelux
- Second world war: the heads of stating government were in exile in London
- Economic revival and reconstruction
o Strategic plan to rebuild their economy and rebuild the countries
o They teamed up to see wat they can doe to accelarete the speed
- Monetary Union: exchange rates and state loans
o In 1943 Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg concluded an agreement aimed at
reinforcing economic relations and facilitating monetary transactions among them
§ They established a fixed exchange rate (no more fluctuation = Monetary Union)
§ They gave state loans to each other for financial help
o Before the euro we had different currencies: there was an exchange between the
different currencies making it sometimes difficult to corporate across borders
§ This because you wouldn’t know in what currency you should pay → °eurozone
§ The monetary union and custom union were developped
- Customs Union: internal borders
o They took this partnership further by opening their internal borders and establishing free
movement of goods, services, capital and persons
o The basic principles were laid down in the 1944 Customs Convention and resulted in…
§ The abolishment of intra-Benelux custom duties
§ The establishment of a common import tariff for third countries
o Problem: if you start having economic developments and if people and goods can cross
easier across borders, cross-border crime comes in
o Solution: we need flanking measures = measures to back up what is already there,
something that will allow police and judicial authorities to follow or cooperate
- Benelux-Union Treaty 1958
o Economic approach, but there was a reason why we signed the Benelux-Union Treaty
§ The head of state and government rialized that economic corporation requires
countries tot take a number of flanking measures, because of crossborder crime
due to the economic approach → focus on cooperation
o In 1958, Joseph Bech, Willem Drees en Achiel van Acker signed the Benelux Treaty aimed
at establishing the so-called Benelux Economic Union (BEU)
§ This Union had its own institutions and would draw up its own policy
§ All existing agreements fell within the newly founded institutional framework
- Update 2008
o Signed for 50 years, but it was prolonged due to the need of Benelux as an organization –
o Do we still need the benelux because we already have the EU? What is the added value
of three small countries to do something else? Unique testing ground…
1
,COOPERATION
THE BENELUX TREATY
Dia 11
→ The mechanism behind it, is what you should be able to explain on the exam!
Flanking measures
- Treaty on extradition and judicial cooperation (1962)
o It soon became clear that the cooperation between these three countries (Belgium, the
Netherland and Luxembourg) would go further than economic matters
§ Criminal investigation: so, we start a procedure + the person involved is absent
o In 1962, the countries adopted the Treaty on Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance in
Criminal Matters (Benelux Extradition Treaty) which introduced two types of extradition…
§ Executorial extradition = aiming for the transfer of a person with a view to
executing a sentence that was imposed in another member state
• We could send an extradition request tot the Netherlands saying we
have this person quick that you have the person given to us so that we
can execute the present sentence → you already have a conviction
§ Prosecutorial extradition = aiming for the transfer of a person with a view to
prosecution in a different country
• We want the person for a line up or we want to have witness
confrontation, or we want to have this person in court on the day that
the hearings take place → stage of prosecution a person
o As the official full name reveals, the Treaty also contains a rather innovative section on
mutual legal assistance → it contains…
§ The provisions on legal assistance upon the request of foreign authorities
§ The provisions specifying the competences of official authorities acting on the
territory of a foreign Member State
§ Today, the Benelux Extradition Treaty is still highly influential and illustrates how
the Benelux served as a model for later forms of cooperation in Europe…
• The Treaty laid the foundation for the 1974 Benelux Protocol, a
document regulating the cross-border hot pursuit by police officers and
the operation of police officers on the territory of another member state
• Building blocks for the Schengen Implementation Convention in 1990
2
, - Treaty on execution (1968)
o In 1968, the Benelux cooperation led to the adoption of the Benelux Treaty on the
Execution of Judicial Decisions in Criminal Matters
o The difference between extradition and transfer on execution has to do with whom or
what you transfer: if you have a conviction but not the person involved → two options…
§ You find the person involved and you ask the country to give the person to you
§ Another country has the person, and you have a conviction so we ask the other
country to take over the execution of the sentence
- BACC-treaty (1969): Benelux Administrative and Criminal Cooperation
o In 1969, the Convention on Administrative and Criminal Cooperation in Matters
Interaction with the Benelux
- Influenced by the Council of Europe
o The Council of Europe was first and the Benelux countries were influenced by the council
and were not happy with the decision of the BIG group because they wanted more
(intensive cooperation) → small circle of cooperation where cooperation is more intense
- Influencing Schengen and European Union
o Benelux was a testing ground and influenced Schengen and European Union
o There are a number of forms of cooperation, horizontalization is one of them
§ The exact same text is adopted, but a lot of question marks are placed here
§ It has no added value, because of the fact that there is a lengthed process that
needs to be concluded before a concluded treaty can enter into force
- Ex. judicial cooperation: entry into force, Council of Europe vs. Benelux
o Council of Europe: this instrument was used as a basis (mother documents)
o Benelux-countries wanted a possibility to stringent even more intensive: instruments
adopted further and introduced a way of cooperating that is more intense or stringent
SENNINGEN MEMORANDUM
Dia 12-14
Horizontalization of cooperation
- Vertical cooperation at Council of Europe level
o Police officers, one in Belgium and one in Luxemburg
§ Diplomats are picking their higher level because when it comes to interstate
cooperation, the people working in the field can’t really contact each other
o States still wanted to have control in deciding with whom to cooperate and whom not
§ Consequence: if a police officer needed help, he needed the approval of a higher
hierarchical person, to ask a counterpart to help
§ When he got the approval, this then went to the same hierarchical level in the
other country and then finally it would be delivered to the counterpart
§ This was very time consuming and not efficient at all
- Horizontal cooperation at Benelux level
o When the Benelux countries came together, they said: Why do we need involvement of
our hierarchy, we trust our police officers, we hadn’t had issues in the past…
§ Horizontal communication from people at the same level in a different country
o Directly, counterparts of the same level: invented at Benelux level, then exported at EU
3
, § The cornerstone of police cooperation among the Benelux countries is the 2004
Senningen Treaty on cross-border police intervention
§ The groundwork for this form of cooperation and that treaty was laid in the
Senningen consultation concerning police and judicial cooperation
• The Benelux Treaty on police cooperation lays out rights and duties of
officers acting across the border → multiple aspects of police operation
Dia 15
Senningen Consultation
- In 1996, a consulation round was held in the city of Senningen (Senningen Consultation)
o This resulted in the adoption of the Senningen Memorandum of understanding,
concerning cooperation in the fields of police, justice and migration
o Later extended to security drug trafficking, natural disasters and consultation group
- In 2004, this Memorandum was supplemented by…
o The Benelux Treaty on cross-border police interventions
o The Declaration on the cooperation between liaison officers: laid out the exact
competences of police officers acting on the territory of another Member State
POLICE COOPERATION
Dia 16-20
Legal basis
- Treaty 2004 cross-border police actions
- New Treaty 2021: upgrade the police cooperation treaty → more intense
Types of cooperation
- Equipment
o Agreements regulating the loan of police equipment between national farces offers many
opportunities, for example, the purchasing of equipment
§ It’s a better deal to buy equipment together with 3 countries then alone
o Special attention paid to using new technologies to improve efficiency of police work:
European Network of Law Enforcement Technology Services (ENLETS)
o There are two options…
§ Have your procumbent and purchase strategy aligned so if there is that cross-
border police patrolling, they will have the same weapon
4
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
Dia 5-10
Benelux
- Second world war: the heads of stating government were in exile in London
- Economic revival and reconstruction
o Strategic plan to rebuild their economy and rebuild the countries
o They teamed up to see wat they can doe to accelarete the speed
- Monetary Union: exchange rates and state loans
o In 1943 Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg concluded an agreement aimed at
reinforcing economic relations and facilitating monetary transactions among them
§ They established a fixed exchange rate (no more fluctuation = Monetary Union)
§ They gave state loans to each other for financial help
o Before the euro we had different currencies: there was an exchange between the
different currencies making it sometimes difficult to corporate across borders
§ This because you wouldn’t know in what currency you should pay → °eurozone
§ The monetary union and custom union were developped
- Customs Union: internal borders
o They took this partnership further by opening their internal borders and establishing free
movement of goods, services, capital and persons
o The basic principles were laid down in the 1944 Customs Convention and resulted in…
§ The abolishment of intra-Benelux custom duties
§ The establishment of a common import tariff for third countries
o Problem: if you start having economic developments and if people and goods can cross
easier across borders, cross-border crime comes in
o Solution: we need flanking measures = measures to back up what is already there,
something that will allow police and judicial authorities to follow or cooperate
- Benelux-Union Treaty 1958
o Economic approach, but there was a reason why we signed the Benelux-Union Treaty
§ The head of state and government rialized that economic corporation requires
countries tot take a number of flanking measures, because of crossborder crime
due to the economic approach → focus on cooperation
o In 1958, Joseph Bech, Willem Drees en Achiel van Acker signed the Benelux Treaty aimed
at establishing the so-called Benelux Economic Union (BEU)
§ This Union had its own institutions and would draw up its own policy
§ All existing agreements fell within the newly founded institutional framework
- Update 2008
o Signed for 50 years, but it was prolonged due to the need of Benelux as an organization –
o Do we still need the benelux because we already have the EU? What is the added value
of three small countries to do something else? Unique testing ground…
1
,COOPERATION
THE BENELUX TREATY
Dia 11
→ The mechanism behind it, is what you should be able to explain on the exam!
Flanking measures
- Treaty on extradition and judicial cooperation (1962)
o It soon became clear that the cooperation between these three countries (Belgium, the
Netherland and Luxembourg) would go further than economic matters
§ Criminal investigation: so, we start a procedure + the person involved is absent
o In 1962, the countries adopted the Treaty on Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance in
Criminal Matters (Benelux Extradition Treaty) which introduced two types of extradition…
§ Executorial extradition = aiming for the transfer of a person with a view to
executing a sentence that was imposed in another member state
• We could send an extradition request tot the Netherlands saying we
have this person quick that you have the person given to us so that we
can execute the present sentence → you already have a conviction
§ Prosecutorial extradition = aiming for the transfer of a person with a view to
prosecution in a different country
• We want the person for a line up or we want to have witness
confrontation, or we want to have this person in court on the day that
the hearings take place → stage of prosecution a person
o As the official full name reveals, the Treaty also contains a rather innovative section on
mutual legal assistance → it contains…
§ The provisions on legal assistance upon the request of foreign authorities
§ The provisions specifying the competences of official authorities acting on the
territory of a foreign Member State
§ Today, the Benelux Extradition Treaty is still highly influential and illustrates how
the Benelux served as a model for later forms of cooperation in Europe…
• The Treaty laid the foundation for the 1974 Benelux Protocol, a
document regulating the cross-border hot pursuit by police officers and
the operation of police officers on the territory of another member state
• Building blocks for the Schengen Implementation Convention in 1990
2
, - Treaty on execution (1968)
o In 1968, the Benelux cooperation led to the adoption of the Benelux Treaty on the
Execution of Judicial Decisions in Criminal Matters
o The difference between extradition and transfer on execution has to do with whom or
what you transfer: if you have a conviction but not the person involved → two options…
§ You find the person involved and you ask the country to give the person to you
§ Another country has the person, and you have a conviction so we ask the other
country to take over the execution of the sentence
- BACC-treaty (1969): Benelux Administrative and Criminal Cooperation
o In 1969, the Convention on Administrative and Criminal Cooperation in Matters
Interaction with the Benelux
- Influenced by the Council of Europe
o The Council of Europe was first and the Benelux countries were influenced by the council
and were not happy with the decision of the BIG group because they wanted more
(intensive cooperation) → small circle of cooperation where cooperation is more intense
- Influencing Schengen and European Union
o Benelux was a testing ground and influenced Schengen and European Union
o There are a number of forms of cooperation, horizontalization is one of them
§ The exact same text is adopted, but a lot of question marks are placed here
§ It has no added value, because of the fact that there is a lengthed process that
needs to be concluded before a concluded treaty can enter into force
- Ex. judicial cooperation: entry into force, Council of Europe vs. Benelux
o Council of Europe: this instrument was used as a basis (mother documents)
o Benelux-countries wanted a possibility to stringent even more intensive: instruments
adopted further and introduced a way of cooperating that is more intense or stringent
SENNINGEN MEMORANDUM
Dia 12-14
Horizontalization of cooperation
- Vertical cooperation at Council of Europe level
o Police officers, one in Belgium and one in Luxemburg
§ Diplomats are picking their higher level because when it comes to interstate
cooperation, the people working in the field can’t really contact each other
o States still wanted to have control in deciding with whom to cooperate and whom not
§ Consequence: if a police officer needed help, he needed the approval of a higher
hierarchical person, to ask a counterpart to help
§ When he got the approval, this then went to the same hierarchical level in the
other country and then finally it would be delivered to the counterpart
§ This was very time consuming and not efficient at all
- Horizontal cooperation at Benelux level
o When the Benelux countries came together, they said: Why do we need involvement of
our hierarchy, we trust our police officers, we hadn’t had issues in the past…
§ Horizontal communication from people at the same level in a different country
o Directly, counterparts of the same level: invented at Benelux level, then exported at EU
3
, § The cornerstone of police cooperation among the Benelux countries is the 2004
Senningen Treaty on cross-border police intervention
§ The groundwork for this form of cooperation and that treaty was laid in the
Senningen consultation concerning police and judicial cooperation
• The Benelux Treaty on police cooperation lays out rights and duties of
officers acting across the border → multiple aspects of police operation
Dia 15
Senningen Consultation
- In 1996, a consulation round was held in the city of Senningen (Senningen Consultation)
o This resulted in the adoption of the Senningen Memorandum of understanding,
concerning cooperation in the fields of police, justice and migration
o Later extended to security drug trafficking, natural disasters and consultation group
- In 2004, this Memorandum was supplemented by…
o The Benelux Treaty on cross-border police interventions
o The Declaration on the cooperation between liaison officers: laid out the exact
competences of police officers acting on the territory of another Member State
POLICE COOPERATION
Dia 16-20
Legal basis
- Treaty 2004 cross-border police actions
- New Treaty 2021: upgrade the police cooperation treaty → more intense
Types of cooperation
- Equipment
o Agreements regulating the loan of police equipment between national farces offers many
opportunities, for example, the purchasing of equipment
§ It’s a better deal to buy equipment together with 3 countries then alone
o Special attention paid to using new technologies to improve efficiency of police work:
European Network of Law Enforcement Technology Services (ENLETS)
o There are two options…
§ Have your procumbent and purchase strategy aligned so if there is that cross-
border police patrolling, they will have the same weapon
4
