Dutch PM: Asylum emergency declaration is justified; No deal on when emergency is over

Prime Minister Dick Schoof has that it will be a tough job to justify declaring an asylum crisis. There are specific requirements to declare a crisis like this, such as force majeure or a war or natural disaster, so according to Schoof, "the motivation is essential." Despite this, he has confidence that the Cabinet will be able to go to the Council of State with a well-substantiated argument, which will then judge whether the crisis law of the Cabinet is correct or incorrect.

The prime minister said the Cabinet needs to discuss precisely how the justification will look. Schoof said, "I think the proposal can withstand criticism. "

Experts strongly doubt whether the situation in the Netherlands justifies a crisis law. This was already requested in 2022, and then State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) answered that this is only possible in "very exceptional situations."

The Cabinet will not declare an asylum crisis until the Council of State has decided on the plan. Schoof acknowledged that it usually takes "six to eight weeks," and complicated proposals can take much longer. But he will, in any case, ask for urgency and expects that it can be done more quickly.

It has yet to be determined by the Cabinet when the Netherlands will overcome the asylum crisis it wants to declare, said Schoof. For example, it has not been agreed how much the shortages in asylum seeker reception must have decreased to withdraw the crisis measures. Agreements may be made about that still open next week when the Cabinet discusses the plans with the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament.

The crisis is over when it is controllable, said Schoof. When "the influx has dropped, and the Dutch people feel they can carry it again. And when access to the housing market, access to health care, and education has been normalized again."

During the presentation of the almost 140-page government program, he admitted that this could be hard to measure. The asylum crisis law, under which the crisis measures will eventually be accommodated, may have a maximum duration of two years.

The Cabinet will defend the government program and the budget for next year on Wednesday and Thursday in the Tweede Kamer during the so-called Algemene Beschouwingen, which is a traditional Tweede Kamer debate after Budget Day, which is considered the most critical debate of the year.

Schoof said that the Netherlands will ask the European Union next week to withdraw from its migration policies for the time being. "The Cabinet will send an official request to Brussels for the so-called opt-out."

The Cabinet had already announced that it would request the exception as soon as possible. An opt-out for the Netherlands requires an amendment to the European treaty, which is considered very difficult and time-consuming. Each of the 27 EU member states can obstruct this.

Frans Timmermans of the GroenLinks-PvdA party has said that the government program will make the Netherlands even more unfair. According to him, it will cause the country to turn even more inward. He will come up with proposals to give people "confidence and security for the future."

"They cut back on education. They cut back on social security. They cut back on sustainable energy. And they give tax gifts to stockholders. The program is only concrete on migration like that is the cause of all our problems," Timmermans said on X.