| Description : Although the population of Luxembourg had voted by a majority
of over 60 % in favour of economic annexation to France in the referendum of the 28th of September 1919
after the First World War, the Economic Union Treaty with Belgium was concluded two years later because France opposed an
economic link with Luxembourg. One of the most important measures of the customs union, abbreviated UEBL, was the pegging
of the Belgian and Luxembourg francs. The exchange rates of the two currencies were thus the same until they were replaced
by the Euro in 2002. The treaty establishing the UEBL was signed in Brussels on the 25th of July 1921, entered
into force on the 22nd of December 1922 and became a precursor to the Benelux Economic Union. A new agreement
aimed at bringing the provisions of the Treaty into line with those of the European Union was signed in 2002 and published
in the Moniteur belge on the 6th of January 2005. The new text also takes into account the new distribution of
powers in the Belgian federal state by being co‐signed by the three Belgian regions. It also extends the scope of
Belgian‐Luxembourg cooperation beyond the economic objective by providing for increased cooperation in international
institutions and the intensification of relations in the fields of development aid, defence and peacekeeping. The first
Belgian 2‐Euro commemorative coin of 2005 was already dedicated to the Belgium‐Luxembourg Economic Union
(originally even planned as a joint issue with Luxembourg). The coin design of 2021 by Luc Luycx again shows the portraits
of the heads of state of both states, the now reigning Belgian King Philippe (front) and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
(back). The outlines of both states shown above are marked with the abbreviations "BE" and "LUX". The occasion of issue is
inscribed in vertical letters in English "ECONOMIC UNION", below are the dates "1921" and "2021" in two lines, and to the
left of them the staff of Hermes the mint mark of the Royal Dutch mint Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt in Houten and
the coat of arms of the municipality of Herzele the logo of the mint master Ingrid Van Herzele. The initials "LL"
of the designer appears at the bottom right. |
