Dutch plan to start new border checks in December criticized by mayors, employers groups

The employers organizations VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland have said that they are concerned about the recently announced new border controls the Netherlands is introducing in a few weeks along its land borders with Germany and Belgium. “The border controls on the German side are already leading to extra costs for companies, and we fear that these will only increase,” the organizations stated in reference to similar checks implemented in Germany.

They call on the government to coordinate the introduction of controls as closely as possible with neighboring countries and to spare economic traffic as much as possible.

Dutch Minister of Asylum Marjolein Faber recently announced that the Marechaussee is going to start conducting border controls on December 9. This is a temporary measure that will last six months. It is meant to combat illegal migration and human smuggling or trafficking.

The minister emphasized that commuters and economic traffic will be inconvenienced as little as possible. According to Faber, there is contact with the border regions about this.

The decision has also led to criticism from Winterswijk, a municipality in Gelderland. The border municipality claims that many residents will be inconvenienced by the controls because they work on the other side of the German border.

"European free movement is very important for border regions. We are not in support of daily queues at the border," said Winterswijk’s Mayor Joris Bengevoord.

Bengevoord said that he will be following the implementation and consequences of the border controls "with great interest." According to the mayor, the measure brings back something "that we consciously distanced ourselves from decades ago."

The Winterswijk mayor is vice chairman of the Association of European Border Regions, the AEBR. The organization had previously called on European countries to exercise restraint when it comes to border controls "because they saddle residents of border areas with delays, economic damage and damage to social cohesion.”

The Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) also questioned whether the controls are effective and enforceable. A spokesperson for the association said that they shared these concerns weeks ago, but they were not taken into account.