Brussels is expected to push back, given that EU member states, including The Netherlands, had in December 2023 agreed on a new bloc-wide migration pact. "You don't opt out of adopted legislation in the EU, that is a general principle," EU spokesperson Eric Mamer said last week of the Dutch stance.

The Dutch government asked the European Union to opt out of its migration and asylum agreement as the new right-wing cabinet pushes for the country’s strictest ever immigration policies.

The new Dutch government dominated by the far-right party of Geert Wilders has officially asked the European Union for an exemption from its migration obligations

The Netherlands announced Wednesday that it had requested from Brussels an opt-out from the European Union's rules on asylum, days after the coalition government unveiled the country's toughest-ever immigration policy.

Right-wing governments in Europe are pushing back against the European Union’s (EU) asylum rules and some are being punished for it. The Netherlands Migration Minister Marjolein Faber of the Freedom Party (PVV) announced Wednesday that she wrote to the EU to officially ask for a “migration opt-out.