Netherlands: Dutch government seeks opt-out from EU’s asylum rules

“I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration ‘opt-out’ on migration matters in Europe for the Netherlands,” posted the Dutch government’s Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber on the platform X on Wednesday (September 18).

The minister added that in her opinion, the Dutch government “needs to be in charge of our own asylum policy again.”

The Dutch request comes hot on the heels of the announcement of the European Commission’s new lineup, which is reportedly made up of politicians slightly further right than they were in the last administration.

Also read: Dutch Prime Minister vows to reduce immigration

‘Stricter, faster and more meager’ asylum policy announced

More importantly, the Dutch decision comes days after the government in the Hague announced the country’s toughest migration policy yet, reports the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).

When announcing the new migration policy to parliament, Dutch King Willem-Alexander told legislators that the government believed asylum policy should become “stricter, faster and more meager,” reported the German press agency dpa.

The King’s speech, which reflects the views of his government and was written by Prime Minister Dick Schoof and his right-wing cabinet, said that a high number of asylum seekers and migrants, as well as foreign students, were putting Dutch society “under great pressure,” challenging Dutch facilities and “our ways of living together.”

Government to do ‘everything in its power…to reduce asylum applications’

The cabinet has vowed to do “everything in its power … to reduce the number of asylum applications,” reported AFP.

Faber is a member of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by the winner of the biggest share of votes in the last Dutch election Geert Wilders.

The Dutch government is reportedly hoping to follow in Denmark’s socialist government footsteps, after they also negotiated an agreement to keep Denmark out of the EU’s common asylum policy.

The new Dutch government finally took office in July, and had promised their supporters that they would seek this kind of opt-out. However, Wilders told AFP in May that he believed actually negotiating such an opt-out “could take years.”

The Dutch Advisory Council on Migration told AFP that such an opt-out could only be granted by actually amending the treaties governing the EU’s asylum policy. Amendments, they warned, would require a unanimous vote from all 27 EU member states, something that would be difficult if not impossible to obtain. Not least, because the new EU legislation is just beginning and having cracks appear so soon would probably not be in most country’s interests.

Also read: Netherlands ends housing support for rejected asylum seekers

Could an opt-out trigger a domino effect?

Also, an opt-out could trigger a domino effect, prompting more countries to try and escape some of the obligations imposed by the rules. Currently, Greece and Austria have protested changes to Germany’s migration policy, after the government introduced controls and spot checks at all its borders.

The Greek government is now reportedly fearing an increase in the number of asylum seekers present in the country, because other EU countries will have an extended time to be able to send asylum seekers back to Greece who first entered the EU at that point, rather than dealing with their asylum claims themselves.

The Advisory Council believes if a Dutch opt-out were to be granted, this would leave “the number of asylum seekers [being] distributed among fewer other member states.” They point out that “Not every member state will be enthusiastic about it.”

EU spokesperson Eric Mamer already said last week ahead of the announcement that he believed “you don’t opt out of adopted legislation in the EU, that is a general principle,” reported the news agency Reuters.

Agreement between EU member states on asylum reform was achieved just before the end of the last legislature in a series of votes ratified in the European parliament from the end of April and in to May.

Also read: Can trips back to Syria compromise asylum applications in the Netherlands?

Declaration of state of emergency planned

The task of this legislature is to implement those reforms. However, in the new Dutch migration policy, reports dpa, the Dutch government is hoping to drastically reduce the numbers of migrants and asylum seekers entering their country.

This, stated Faber, is so the country can “fulfil our constitutional duties such as providing housing, healthcare and education.”

The Dutch coalition is also planning to declare a state of emergency, so that it can suspend parts of the country’s asylum law without needing to seek approval from the parliament, reported dpa. Legal experts, however, doubt the legality of this measure.

One member of the coalition, the moderate New Social Contract (NSC) party has said that if a state of emergency declaration is found to have no legal basis, they would withdraw their support for the coalition.

It took the Netherlands from November 2023 to July 2024 to form a government, so cracks in the newly formed coalition could also be problematic for the country, despite the popular support, in terms of votes for the PVV party.

Asylum seekers in the Netherlands

The numbers of newly arriving asylum seekers and migrants in the Netherlands has remained relatively stable in recent years, at around 40,000 per year, reports dpa. However, in spite of that, successive governments have struggled to provide enough accommodation for all those in the country, and have regularly resorted to tent camps and temporary accommodation, including barges, to house them all.

EU data suggests that in 2023, the average number of first-applicant asylum seekers in the Netherlands matched the bloc’s average, at about two first-time applications per 1,000 residents. Ten member states had a higher proportion than the Netherlands.

However, the Netherlands only has one registration center, meaning it often becomes “overwhelmed” leaving hundreds sleeping outdoors until they can obtain registration.

The new EU asylum pact is due to be introduced in 2026. “As we head towards the introduction of the European Asylum and Migration Pact in 2026, the Netherlands will apply a much stricter admission regime,” explained the King.

Anyone failing to cooperate with an order to quit the country will be punished and measures to obtain a Dutch passport will be made even stricter.

With AFP, Reuters and dpa 

Also read: Dutch parliament approves controversial asylum seeker law