Netherlands requests opt-out clause from EU asylum rules, a bold move with low chances of success

The four-party coalition in the Netherlands, led by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, has promised to build up the "strictest asylum regime ever."

Transcript

00:00The European Commission has rebuffed the Dutch government's recent request to secure an opt-out

00:08clause from the EU's migration and asylum rules.

00:12A Commission spokesperson told reporters in Brussels it had received the Hague's letter

00:17penned by the Dutch Minister for Asylum and Migration and that there were no plans currently

00:22to provide the exemption.

00:25There is no treaty change upcoming, therefore this is the current situation.

00:31We have also taken and welcomed the fact that the Minister has said that they will continue

00:37to prioritise the implementation of the pact, which is clearly a priority for the Commission.

00:43Marjolein Faber, the Dutch politician in charge of asylum and migration, wrote the government

00:49wanted to drastically reduce the volume of migrants to the Netherlands to deliver better

00:54social services.

00:56However the member of the far-right ultranationalist party conceded in the communique that if their

01:01request fell on deaf ears, the Hague would continue to uphold the EU's migration rules.