Dutch Language Union

Nederlandse Taalunie Dutch Language Union
A map showing the member states of the Dutch Language Union (dark blue)
Headquarters	The Hague, Netherlands
Official language	Dutch
Membership	3 members  Belgium  Netherlands  Suriname  Aruba (candidate member)  Curaçao (candidate member)  Sint Maarten (candidate member)  Indonesia (special partner)  South Africa (special partner)
Leaders
• Secretary-General	Geert Joris
Establishment
• Treaty	9 September 1980
Population
• 2013 estimate	~23 million
Website taalunieversum.org

The Dutch Language Union (Dutch:  Nederlandse Taalunie , NTU) is an international institution that governs issues regarding the Dutch language. It was founded on 9 September 1980 by the Netherlands and Belgium (in respect of the Flemish Community). Suriname has been an associate member of the Taalunie since 2005.

The Dutch Language Union was established by a treaty between Belgium and the Netherlands, signed on 9 September 1980 in Brussels. It succeeded the "Cultural Agreement" (governing more than just language) between the two countries signed just after the Second World War. This agreement was redone in 1995, after the federalization of Belgium, and a new treaty was signed between the Netherlands and Flanders. On 12 December 2003, president of the Committee of Ministers of the Dutch Language Union Medy van der Laan and Minister of Education of Suriname Walter Sandriman signed the agreement to the accession of Suriname to the union. The accession was ratified by the National Assembly of Suriname in 2004 and came into force in 2005.

Standard Dutch (Algemeen Nederlands, often abbreviated to AN) is the standard language as it is taught in schools and used by authorities in the Netherlands, Flanders, Suriname, and the Dutch Caribbean. The Dutch Language Union defines what is AN and what is not. Since efforts to "uplift" people came to be considered rather presumptuous, the earlier name Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands ("Common Civilised Dutch") and its abbreviation, ABN, have been replaced with Algemeen Nederlands and thus AN. The implicit insinuation that people speaking dialects or with an accent were not civilised was thus removed.