The Admiral Benelux (ABNL) is the Commanding Officer of the combined military staff of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces.

[1] The position of ABNL was created together with the combination of the Staffs of the two contributing navies on March 28, 1995, in the BeNeSam Accord.

[3] The Admiral Benelux is the commanding officer of the joint staffs who, together, form the Directorate of Operations (DOPS).

Under the terms of the BENESAM Accord, the ABNL position is held by the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

After the end of the Cold War the focus of the Dutch-Belgian cooperation turned more and more to the efficient use of equipment and personnel (also driven by cutbacks in military spending after the collapse of the Soviet Union).