The Benelux Union is a political and economic union made up of neighboring nations Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The union's origins date to the mid-20th Century.

Representatives of the three nations signed an economic agreement on Oct. 21, 1943; at the time, all three were under German occupation during World War II. Less than a year later came a customs contention, and the following year occurred a ministerial conference, in The Hague. Final negotiations dragged on for a number of years; the final result was the Benelux Treaty, signed in 1958. Operations under it began in November 1960. By that time, all three nations were also members of the European Steel and Coal Community.

The idea between the agreements was to create a free trade area between the three nations, ending customs barriers that had arisen over time. The union also provided for the unrestricted movement of people and services within the three nations.

Benelux also has a Court of Justice, which was the product of a 1965 treaty and which went into operation in 1974, with headquarters in Luxembourg. Each of the three member nations sends judges from its highest courts to ensure that common legal rules are applied everywhere within the union.

A provision of the original Benelux treaty was that the union be limited to 50 years, with the possibility of a renewal of the arrangement once those 50 years had been completed. A new legal framework replaced the old one and was signed on June 17, 2008. Two significant changes were the removal of any expiration date on the union and the removal of the word "Economic" from the title of the entity, now to be termed the Benelux Union.

Under the new treaty, a handful of Benelux institutions basically run things. The Committee of Ministers, consisting of at least one representative from each of the three member nations, is the top-level decision-making office for the union; the committee president serves for a year and is rotated among the the member nations. The General Secretariat and a Benelux Council exist at a high level to help facilitate the workings of the Committee of Ministers. As well, the Benelux Parliament, dating to 1955, has a total of 49 members who act as liaisons between the Benelux goings-on and their own home governments.

In recent years, Benelux officials have concentrated on trademarks and intellectual property, with relevant offices in The Hague. Other more recent areas of cooperation include matters of policing and a common approach to confronting climate change.