Thursday, 10
October 2024 - 17:56
https://nltimes.nl/2024/10/10/eu-members-highly-critical-dutch-attempt-opt-migration-rules
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.
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