The EU has acknowledged a formal request from the Netherlands’ new right-wing coalition for an opt-out from its rules on migration and asylum – a request hailed on Thursday by Geert Wilders, leader of the largest party in government, as “a sign that a new wind is blowing”.
The opt-out request was lodged with the European Commission in Brussels on Wednesday by migration minister Marjolein Klaver, who declared in a post on social media site X: “We have to be in charge of our own asylum policy once again.”
A spokeswoman for the commission pointed out in response that the EU’s recently-agreed immigration pact, which was more than three years in negotiation and aimed to prioritise “more secure European borders”, had come into force as recently as June. “An opt-out is only possible if there are changes being made to the treaty, and we don’t expect any immediate changes”, the spokeswoman said.
In addition, an opt-out for the Netherlands, she said, would only be possible if all 27 EU member states voted in favour, which in itself would inevitably be a long and arduous process.
In reality, however, while the new EU pact came into effect in June its new rules will only be enforced in 2026 after a two-year transition period.
Brussels is clearly concerned that the Dutch opt-out application could lead to piggyback requests – and throw the pact’s timetable into disarray. The first sign of that happening came immediately on Thursday when Hungary’s minister for European affairs, Janos Boka, said his country would support the Dutch application.
“Drastic action is needed to stem illegal migration and so the Hungarian government will join the Netherlands in asking for an opt-out from EU asylum and migration rules if a treaty amendment allows it,” he said.
The opt-out application is just one plank of the new Dutch government’s strategy to implement “the toughest immigration policy in the country’s history”.
In tandem it aims to declare an asylum crisis based on continued overcrowding at the main immigrant reception centre at Ter Apel and the chronic lack of suitable accommodation elsewhere in the country. Declaring a crisis would, if it were to succeed, allow the government to bypass parliament and introduce emergency measures such as freezing asylum applications or restricting the entitlement of refugees to be joined from overseas by family members.
In a heated debate in parliament the leader of the GreenLeft-Labour Alliance, Frans Timmermans, said he would introduce a motion aiming to block any such crisis measures – which he described as “an undemocratic trick” that posed “a danger to democracy”.
Mr Wilders hit back, accusing Mr Timmermans of being “a populist” and “totally blind” to people’s concerns about unchecked immigration in their cities.
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