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Hay & Menon: European Politics

Luxembourg

Luxembourg was one of the founding states of the Benelux Customs Union, established by the exiled governments of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1944. It aimed to unify three small economies in order to avoid the problems of post-war economic reconstruction that would face such small economies facing difficulties in trade. It was also seen as a precursor to the larger phase of European integration brought in by the Treaty of Rome, of which all three Benelux countries were signatories. Luxembourg has been a strong supporter of European integration throughout the period of post-war European integration. This is largely due to the very small size of the country, which would be a lot less viable as a completely independent state. The principle of ensuring that national sovereignty is (at least partially) retained by all EU member states has also resulted in Luxembourg acquiring a disproportionately large weight of the votes within the Council of Ministers, thereby further consolidating Luxembourgian support for the EU. Despite being scheduled after the French and Dutch 'no' votes in referendums on the European Constitution in 2005, Luxembourg went ahead with its own referendum on 10 July 2005, witnessing a narrow 'yes' vote supported by 56.5% of the voters.