Foreign relations of the Netherlands context of the Western European Union and the European Security and Defence Policy of the EU – and bilaterally, as in the German-Netherlands Corps. In recent years, the Dutch have become significant contributors to UN peacekeeping efforts around the world as well as to the Stabililzation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) in Bosnia. The Dutch have been strong advocates of European integration, and most aspects of their foreign, economic, and trade policies are coordinated through the European Union (EU). The Dutch postwar customs union with Belgium and Luxembourg (the Benelux group) paved the way for the formation of the
Foreign relations of Belgium liberation of Belgium at the end of World War II. In March 1948 Belgium joined with France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Britain in an agreement to establish a joint defense system. This agreement, known as the Treaty of Brussels, was a recognition that individual national responses to the threat of aggression were inadequate and that a united defense effort was necessary for mutual security. In 1948, after expressions of concern by several European states that the Treaty of Brussels was too limited in scope and effectiveness, the prime minister of Canada called for a mutual defense system comprising Western Europe