Hanoverian Union
Hanoverian Union | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Emblem
| |
| Motto: "Eenheid onder de kroon" (Dutch) "L'unité sous la couronne" (French) "Eenheet ënner der Kroun" (Luxembourgish) "Unity Under The Crown" | |
 | |
| Administrative center | Brussels |
| Official languages | English, Dutch, French, Luxembourgish |
| Leaders | |
| Alexandra | |
• Chairman | David Gauke |
| Wopke Hoekstra | |
| François Bausch Paulette Lenert | |
| Legislature | Executive Council of the Hanoverian Union |
| Establishment | |
| 6 December 1946 | |
| 6 December 2006 | |
| Area | |
• | 365,754.4 km2 (141,218.6 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2021 estimate | 105,594,693 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2021 estimate |
• Total | $6.005 trillion |
• Per capita | $56,870 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2021 estimate |
• Total | $5.305 trillion |
• Per capita | $50,246 |
| Gini | 29.2 low |
| HDI (2021) | 0.934 very high |
| Currency | Pound sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR) |
The Hanoverian Union (Dutch: Hannoveraanse Unie French: Union hanovrienne Luxembourgish: Hannoverescher Unioun) is a politico-economic union consisting of three neighbouring countries in Western Europe, namely the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, all three of which are constitutional monarchies with a single Hanoverian monarch as their respective head of state, currently Queen/Grand Duchess Alexandra. Formed in 1946 as a result of the Brussels Agreement between the governments of all three countries, the organisation mainly promotes intergovernmental cooperation between its three member states, with the reigning Hanoverian monarch being promoted and seen as a common and unifying identity between the three countries. With an estimated total population of 105 million, the union covers a total area of approximately 365,754.4 km2 (141,218.6 sq mi), while otherwise boasting the third largest economy in the world at $5.305 trillion.
The organisation's agenda is mainly decided and enacted by a legislative body, known as the Executive Council of the Hanoverian Union, which is made up of approximately four members and is overseen by the President of the Hanoverian Union. By convention, the council would come into session every fifteen years where on each occasion, members would decide on a new agenda, which, upon coming into force, would be officially known as a "Trinational Plan", with the term referring to the tripartite nature of the organisation, which is made up of approximately three member states. However, while the President of the Hanoverian Union oversees the functions of the Executive Council, it is otherwise led and chaired by a chairman, who, in turn, is assisted by a deputy chairman. Meanwhile, the organisation's agendas are carefully arranged, recorded, and later archived by the organisation's secretary, an office that is usually held by the next-in-line to the chairmanship.
Formation
The end of the Second World War in 1945, while not completely so, had inflicted considerable damage to the economies of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, with towns and cities damaged by bombings from both sides, and the lives of civilians lost to enemy gunfire. In response, during the first few post-war years, the British government under Clement Attlee, under the auspices of re-strengthening the personal union between the three countries, first proposed in 1946 the idea of a union between the three countries concerning political and economic matters. Initially, Attlee's proposal was met with some skepticism and lack of enthusiasm from the Dutch and Luxembourgish governments, who were concerned that given the clear difference in economic size between the United Kingdom and their respective countries, the former would therefore automatically become the sole dominating power in the organisation, thereby rendering the Netherlands and Luxembourg's participations useless and ineffective. However, such worries were quickly calmed when, in devising a method for choosing the executive head of the organisation, Attlee proposed that the position should rotate between the three countries after a designated period of time, so as to give each member states an equal opportunity for the leadership spot. Soon enough, the British prime minister's revision on the project was met with satisfaction from the Dutch and Luxembourgish leaders, eventually culminating in the historic Brussels Agreement on 6 December 1946, in which Attlee, together with his Dutch and Luxembourgish counterparts, Louis Beel and Pierre Dupong respectively, unanimously agreed on the final framework of what would later become known as the Hanoverian Union, with the name "Hanoverian" referring to the royal house from which the common monarch of all three countries originated from.