Marc Hendrickx appointed commission chairman at the Benelux Parliament

Flemish parliament member Marc Hendrickx (N-VA) has been appointed chairman of the Foreign Policy Commission at the Benelux Parliament. “This is the first time that a Flemish nationalist is appointed chairman of a commission, and for me this is a very big honour” said Marc Hendrickx. “Thanks to the renewed Benelux treaty it is now possible to let Flanders play a more prominent role within the Benelux, free from Belgian shackles. And this is obviously what I plan to do. On top of this I will also work to further develop contacts with the Baltic States and the German state of North Rhine - Westphalia.” The Benelux Parliament is an inter-parliamentary assembly with fifty members: 21 from the Netherlands, 21 from Belgium and 8 from Luxembourg. The Belgian delegation consists of representatives from the federal parliament as well as from the regional parliaments. In 2011 and 2012 the Benelux Parliament will convene in The Hague.