In light of a European court ruling last week, the Dutch government may have to pay a fine of €100 million for its failure to process asylum applications in a short amount of time.
According to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg, the Netherlands has to comply with EU rules that state that asylum seekers have the right to receive a decision within six months.
In unique circumstances, member states can extend the deadline, particularly when a large number of applications is received in a short amount of time. The former Dutch cabinet changed the maximum waiting period to 15 months.
However, the ruling issued by the court last Thursday states that exceptions could not be granted when there was “a gradual rise in asylum applications over an extended period.” Current figures show that the number of asylum seekers decreased by 50% in the first quarter of 2025.
The Netherlands may be liable to pay fines of up to €7,500 for every one of the 18,000 asylum seekers who have had to wait for nine to 15 months for the conclusion of their cases.
Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber said there was “no solution in the short term” to the backlog in cases. She has promised to abolish the conditional fines as part of her plans to bring in the “strictest asylum policy ever,” but legal experts believe her approach may infringe upon European law.
Faber is a member of the anti-immigration right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV), the largest party in the four-party centre-right coalition government which has introduced tougher asylum policies, and also signalled its intention to opt out from the EU’s controversial Migration Pact.
