Benelux Economic Union explained

The Benelux Union (Dutch: Benelux Unie; French: Union Benelux; Luxembourgish: Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation (http://www.benelux.int) of three neighboring states in western Europe: Belgium, Netherlands,  and Luxembourg. The name Benelux is a portmanteau formed from joining the first two or three letters of each country's name: 

Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg – and was first used to name the customs agreement that initiated the union (signed in 1944). It is now used more generally to refer to the geographic, economic and cultural grouping of the three countries.

• Customs union treaty signed	5 September 1944[2]
• Customs union in effect	1 January 1948[2]
• Renewal signed	17 June 2008
• Renewal in effect	1 January 2010

BeNeLux Economic Union Explained. Aernout Fabius shares his knowledge and experience as a immigrant BeNeLux citizen and Tax Resident of the United Kingdom since 1971.

Number of MPs in parliament

57th Parliament of the United Kingdom

Lets assume that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson restores the whip to the 21 former conservatives MPs:

Best scenario: With 309 MPs, the conservative government has a minority of 3 with continuing support from the 10 DUP MPs...

Worst scenario: With 288 MPs, the conservative government has a minority of 33, assuming no confidence and supply contract from any other party...

Some of the many questions that need attention:

• Westminster's constitutional turmoil is not entirely unexpected!?
• why does the United Kingdom have an uncodified and not a written constitution?
• is it fair that the British Parliament continues while ancient convention(s) and the more recent Fixed Parliament Act cause a bottle neck?

Editor's comment

There are so many more little inconsistencies and the United Kingdom is not the only country where disruption and unease needs microscopic attention to identify local and regional economic inefficiencies!

Aernout Fabius shares his knowledge and experience as a immigrant BeNeLux citizen and Tax Resident of the United Kingdom since 1971

Bloomberg interview - Ian Blackford

Westminster Parliament SNP Leader Ian Blackord interviewed by Bloomberg. Aernout Fabius shares his knowledge and experience as a immigrant BeNeLux citizen and Tax Resident of the United since 1971.

BrExit in Scotland

The Scotland's Devolved Government, currently lead by the SNP, are allowing their "SNP raison d'etre" to influence rational thinking and longer term strategy, which will probably benefit Scotland as well as England and Wales. Breaking up the United Kingdom is simply a bridge too far!

Overseas Countries and Territories

The European Union has worked carefully with six EU member states

EU Overseas
Countries and Territories Association

The special territories of the European Union are 31 territories of EU member states which, for historical, geographical, or political reasons, enjoy special status within or outside the European Union. The special territories divided themselves in two categories: 9 Outermost Regions (OMR) that form part of the European Union, though they benefit from derogations from some EU laws due to their geographical remoteness from mainland Europe; and 22 Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) that do not form part of the European Union, though they cooperate with the EU via the Overseas Countries and Territories Association.

The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are 14 territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories. These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and, with the exception of Gibraltar, are not part of the European Union. Most of the permanently inhabited territories are internally self-governing, with the UK retaining responsibility for defence and foreign relations. Three are inhabited only by a transitory population of military or scientific personnel. They all share the British monarch (Elizabeth II) as head of state.

Crown Dependencies

The Crown Dependencies are the Bailiwick of Jersey, the Bailiwick of Guernsey (which includes the jurisdictions of Guernsey, Alderney and Sark) and the Isle of Man. The Crown Dependencies are not part of the UK but are self-governing dependencies of the Crown, answerable to the Queen and through her to the Privy Council and not to the UK Parliament.

From the poles to the tropics, the European Union (EU) includes 34 overseas entities: 9 Outermost Regions (ORs) and 25 Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs). They are linked to 6 European Member States: Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man  are not classified by the European Union as Special Overseas Countries and Territories.

■■■
Editor's cross analysis
■■■ The Crown Dependencies ■■■

These islands are in Europe and entitled to a special referendum to decide:

1) Their existing Status Quo or complete independence

2) The relationship with the UK and the Crown

3) continue or abandon the special T&Cs with the EU

Dissolution Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.

Dissolution of theNetherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles before its complete dissolution in 2010
Date	1 January 1986 (Aruba), 10 October 2010
Location	Netherlands Antilles
Participants	Governments of the island territories of the Netherlands Antilles Government of the Netherlands Antilles Government of the Netherlands
Outcome	Separation of Arubain 1986, complete dissolution in 2010

Map of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands and the Caribbean islands are to the same scale.

After dissolution, the "BES islands" of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba became special municipalities of the Netherlands proper, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along the lines of Aruba, which previously separated from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986.

Status in the European UnionEdit

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is the Sovereign Nation and a member of the European Union.

However, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten have the status of overseas countries and territories (OCTs) and are not part of the EU. Nevertheless, only one type of citizenship exists within the Kingdom (Dutch), and all Dutch citizens are EU citizens (including those in the OCTs).

The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands agreed not to change the status of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba with regard to the EU in the first five years of integration of these islands into the Netherlands, after which a re-evaluation of the islands' EU status is to take place. The islands thus will remain OCTs at least until 2015.^[14]

The Netherlands secured a provision in the Treaty of Lisbon that says that any Caribbean part of the Netherlands can opt for a change of status to Outermost Region (OMR) if it so wishes, without having to change the Treaties of the European Union.

Ed

Editorial comment:

The participant territorial governments used a combination of Referendum and Round Table Conferences to conclude the way forward, which was duly ratified by the individual islands in 2010.

Aruba referendum 1977

Aruba is a tiny Carribean island off the coast of Venezuela and a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
~~~~
In 1976 the Estates (Aruban Parliament) had approved a referendum on the island's status.  An independence referendum was held in Aruba on 25 March 1977.

Voters were given the choice of independence or remaining in the Netherlands Antilles, with over 95% voting in favour of the former.

In 1983 the Treaty of The Hague agreed independence for Aruba by 1996, and the island seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986. However, in 1994 the plan for full independence was scrapped.

Editorial observation

~~dated 14th December 2018~~

The research time used was minimal and relevant information copy pasted from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia.

Devolution in Greenland

On Saturday 7th December 2018, a phone-in show which shall not be named in this blog, exposed how easy it is for FAKE NEWS to enter the realm of quasi-truth. A caller stated that Greenland was a part of Norway. Let me quote a quick historic summary:

• Norse colonization - 10th century
• Arrival of the Inuit - 13th century
• Unification with Norway - 1262
• Dano-Norwegian colonies established 1721
• Ceded to Denmark - 14 January 1814

In 1953 a new Danish Constitution incorporated Greenland in Denmark, the island thereby gained representation in the Danish Parliament and was recognized as a Danish province known as the County of Greenland.

In 1979 Greenland was granted home rule by the Danish government, but Denmark remained in control of a number of areas incl. foreign relations, defense, currency matters and the legal system in Greenland after this.

Greenlandic fishing rights
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After wrangling over fishing rights, the territory left the EEC in 1985, but remains subject to the EU treaties through association of Overseas Countries and Territories with the EU. This was permitted by the Greenland Treaty, a special treaty signed in 1984 to allow its withdrawal from the EEC/EU. Greenland is not an EEA or an EFTA member!

In 2008 Greenland's citizens approved the Greenlandic self-government referendum with a 75% vote in favor of a higher degree of autonomy. Greenland took control of law enforcement, the coast guard, and the legal system. The official language changed from Danish to Greenlandic on 21 June 2009, Greenland national day.

As part of the self-rule law of 2009 (section §21), Greenland can declare full independence if they wish to pursue it, but it would have to be approved by a referendum among the Greenlandic people. A poll in 2016 showed that there was a clear majority (64%) for full independence among the Greenlandic people, but a poll in 2017 showed that there was a clear opposition (78%) if it meant a fall in living standards.