Often the Benelux Economic Union is seen as an example of small-scale international integration that could serve for countries not belonging to established tradinf blocks, or even as a preparation for future accession. The author briefly sketches the history of the Benelux and determines its importance. He shows that the Benelux was not only a "Kindergarden" for its members in orden to prepare themselves for a future large-scale integration, but also a prefiguration and forerunner of the European Union. Its seems further that these types of small-scale integration do not need to be symmetric in order to be effective. The author concludes that medium- and long-term economic goals (e.g. on trade liberalisation) and political motives should be regarded as more important thatn short-term economic benefits.