Dutch Migration Minister Mariolein Faber has announced that she has formally asked the European Commission for the country to opt out of the EU's usual policies to ensure of asylum and migration, reported the Dutch news agency ANP, quoted by BTA.
"We must return to our own asylum policy!”, Faber wrote in a post on the social network "X".
The cabinet has already announced that it will push for the emergency position as soon as possible. In order to end the participation of the Netherlands, the European agreement must be amended, which is considered very difficult and time-consuming. Furthermore, the government or parliament of any of the 27 EU member states can thwart this.
The Dutch government will request an end to participation when the European agreement is amended, Faber wrote to the European Commission. The government believes that a drastic reduction in immigration is necessary to fulfill certain constitutional obligations such as the provision of public housing, health care and education.
In the past, EU countries have sometimes negotiated exceptions when the union wants to set rules for a new area, but migration policy is now largely European. Supporters of the exclusion point out that the agreement will have to be changed anyway in the coming years, when, for example, new countries join the EU. On the other hand, skeptics argue that member states with large numbers of asylum seekers will be reluctant to grant the right of refusal to a less busy country like the Netherlands.
According to Faber, while the Netherlands does not have an opt-out option, the EU can count on the government to make efforts for the new migration rules that the union will introduce.