The government programme

Holland, Wilders' footprint: crackdown on migrants and foreign students

The measures listed by the majority coalition also include a dietrforont on the environment and moving the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

by Michele Pignatelli

16 May 2024

I leader dei quattro partiti di maggioranza: da sinistra a destra Geert Wilders (Pvv), Dilan Yesilgoz (Vvd), Caroline van der Plas (BBB) e Pieter Omtzigt (Nsc) durante la pesentazione del programma di governo all’Aja

3' min read

Key points

The Netherlands to the Dutch
Backtracking on nitrogen emission limits
Foreign Policy

3' min read

The most right-wing Dutch government in decades throws off the mask before it is even born, with the publication of the coalition programme of the four centre-right parties that agreed on Wednesday after almost six months of negotiations. And the imprint of the Pvv - the populist and anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders, winner in the November elections - is more evident than ever.

In the 26 pages of the programme, called 'Hope, Courage and Pride', ten areas are touched upon, but the most articulate and bound to cause discussion is one: immigration. Wilders' ambition to set the most stringent rules ever on asylum is such that, in his programme, the coalition has made it clear that it wants to ask the European Commission for an opt-out on migration policies. This request will not be easily granted, considering that the EU has just approved the new Pact on Migration (with the Dutch yes) and that, traditionally, derogations are requested during negotiations on treaty changes.

The Netherlands to the Dutch

In detail, the planned tightening concerns first of all asylum seekers, with intensified border controls, shortened and stricter admission procedures, immediate deportation of migrants who have already been denied asylum in another country, recourse also to forced deportations; furthermore, for admitted refugees, limits on family reunifications and no priority for the granting of social housing.

This plan, Wilders commented, will make the Netherlands less attractive for asylum seekers, 'people in Africa and the Middle East will start to think that they might be better off elsewhere'. "We can be proud of this beautiful Holland again," he added, "The Netherlands will be ours again.

The squeeze, however, also extends to foreign workers and students, especially from outside the EU. There will be, the four parties write, 'additional requirements' and 'controls' for non-EU workers without specific knowledge or skills, who will have to obtain a work permit. Study migration will also be restricted, with the introduction of 'more courses in Dutch', a cap on foreign students and an increase in tuition fees for non-EU students.

A measure, the latter, destined to arouse discontent in the manufacturing world, considering that a law reducing tax benefits for expatriates and a bill to limit the flow of foreign students entering the country had already met with opposition from companies, which rely heavily on international talent.

Backtracking on nitrogen emission limits

Among the other measures listed in the government programme, environmental policies and foreign policy are worth mentioning. On the environment, the four parties say they want to stick to their commitments, but they are also ready to renegotiate with the EU the constraints imposed by the previous government to limit nitrogen emissions by farmers (who can now count on the support of the BBB, the Farmers' Citizens' Movement, part of the coalition together with Wilders' PvP, the liberal-conservatives of the Vvd and the centrist New Social Movement).

Foreign Policy

In foreign policy, support for Ukraine is confirmed, while in the other main ongoing conflict, the Middle East, there is a decisive pro-Israeli turn (in line with the ideological orientation that has always characterised Wilders), with the explicit desire in the programme to move the Dutch embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem at the appropriate time.

With the agreement between the parties now reached, an independent intermediary will now be in charge of forming the cabinet of ministers, a process that is expected to take at least another month. The first unknown to be unravelled is the name of the premier, with the party leaders, starting with Wilders, having decided to step aside. A Labour Party veteran who led part of the negotiations, Ronald Plasterk, has been mentioned in the Dutch media as a possible candidate, but official confirmation is lacking.