EU members highly critical of Dutch attempt to opt-out of migration rules

Dutch Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber cannot count on support from other European Union (EU) member states for her proposal to let the Netherlands opt-out of the bloc’s rules on migration. Ministers from Germany, Greece, and Sweden all denounced her plan, which seeks special exceptions for the Netherlands, before the start of an EU meeting on migration in Luxembourg on Thursday.

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson also criticized the plan, saying that it was not possible according to the EU treaty and that she had told the Dutch government this already. “It is not a good idea,” the German Minister of Interior Affairs Nancy Faeser said resolutely.

Greek Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos does not think it is a good idea for EU member states to implement a patchwork of migration policies specific to different countries. He believes that it is important that EU countries stick together and implement the EU migration pact as one bloc.

Sweden also thinks that the EU member states need to ensure that the European migration pact “is efficient and works like it is intended,” said that country’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer. “We cannot now start looking for special solutions for individual countries.”

The ministers of France, Belgium, and Finland did not provide a direct answer to the question of whether the Dutch request was wishful thinking or has a chance of success. “France is not asking for an opt-out,” said minister Bruno Retailleu to ANP’s question on the issue. “On the contrary, we have strongly supported the asylum migration package and even want to speed up the implementation of it.”

Belgian State Secretary for Asylum Nicole de Moor said that it is important that the European migration pact be implemented soon. Finish Minister Lulu Raine said the Netherlands’ wish is “unrealistic.”

An opt-out would require a change to the EU Treaty. In addition, all EU member states must agree unanimously to such a change.

The EU migration pact will apply from mid-2026. This consists of stricter rules for receiving migrants, spreading them out evenly across the EU, and sending some of them back, including detaining asylum seekers who have little chance of success. All countries must also register asylum seekers in the same manner. The pact was negotiated for years.