Editing Dutch Language Union (section)

==History==
[[File:Map of the Dutch World.svg|left|thumb|290px|The Dutch-speaking world.]]

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 [[state reform in Belgium|federalization of Belgium]], and a new treaty was signed between the Netherlands and [[Flanders]].<ref name=Willemijns176>Willemyns 176.</ref> 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 (Suriname)|National Assembly of Suriname]] in 2004 and came into force in 2005.<ref name="Suriname">{{cite web |url=http://taalunie.org/organisatie/samenwerking-tussen-nederlandse-taalunie-en-suriname |title=Suriname, lid van de Taalunie |website=Nederlandse Taalunie |access-date=19 June 2014 |language=nl |archive-date=22 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222233246/http://taalunie.org/organisatie/samenwerking-tussen-nederlandse-taalunie-en-suriname |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{anchor|Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands}}
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 [[Netherlands Antilles|Dutch Caribbean]]. The Dutch Language Union defines what is ''AN'' and what is not. Since efforts to "uplift" people had come to be considered rather presumptuous, the earlier name ''Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands'' ("Common Civilised Dutch") and its abbreviation, ''ABN'', were replaced with ''Algemeen Nederlands'' (''AN''). The implication that [[non-standard variety|non-standard varieties]] are not civilised was thus removed.