The Netherlands says it plans to request an exemption from the EU’s common migration and asylum policy. It comes after the right-wing coalition government announced plans for the country’s “strictest-ever asylum regime.”
The Netherlands’ right-wing coalition government announced on Wednesday plans to opt out from EU-wide rules on asylum and migration.
It comes after the Dutch government unveiled stricter immigration policy.
What did the Dutch government say about the exemption request?
“I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration ‘opt-out’ on migration matters in Europe for the Netherlands,” Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“We have to handle our own asylum policy once more!” she said.
Faber belongs to the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders.
Denmark has managed to negotiate an agreement to stay outside of the EU’s common asylum policy. The EU Parliament approved the bloc’s new migration pact in April.
The Dutch coalition government took power in July after an election in which the PVV became the largest party in parliament. While the PVV nominated independent Dick Schoof as prime minister, the party remains the dominant force in the coalition.
For the Netherlands to be given an opt-out, all 27 member states would have to agree to a revision of the EU’s migration treaty.
In parliament, Wilders said of the planned exemption request: “I know this will take a long time, but it is a sign that new wind is blowing.”
