Netherlands seeks opt-out from EU migration rules - eventually
World
Netherlands seeks opt-out from EU migration rules - eventually
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands' right-wing government said on Wednesday it would seek to opt out from the European Union's migration rules if and when the bloc next renegotiates its core treaties - even though this is unlikely to happen any time soon.
In power since July, the government led by Geert Wilders' nationalist, anti-Islam PVV party has said it wants to clamp down on unwanted arrivals and aims for the "strictest-ever asylum regime", with stronger border checks and harsher rules for arriving asylum-seekers.
Immigration is a hot-button issue in the Netherlands, as in much of the 27-nation EU, and the PVV's hard line explains much of its popularity.
"I just informed @EU_commission that I want a migration opt-out for the Netherlands within Europe," PVV Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber said on X.
"We need to be in charge of our own asylum policy again!", Faber said, in words reminiscent of similar, immigration-focused political slogans in Britain and elsewhere in recent years.
However, the official letter Faber sent to the European Commission is more nuanced and shows the Netherlands is not trying to opt out now from the EU's newly agreed immigration pact, which was years in the making and entered into force in June, but hopes to do so at a later stage.
"This government aims to drastically reduce the volume of migration to the Netherlands," Faber wrote, adding that, to achieve this aim, it "will call for an opt-out from the European asylum and migration acquis in case of Treaty amendment".
"I know this will take a long time, but it is a sign that a new wind is blowing," Wilders said in parliament.
