Currently, an asylum application cannot be substantively processed when the asylum seeker has ties to another safe country outside the EU. This proposal legally allows this to happen when an asylum seeker has traveled through another safe country or when the EU or the Netherlands has agreements with a safe country to process the asylum procedure there.

Minister van Hijum for Asylum and Migration: “The Netherlands has advocated for this in Brussels, so it is good that the European Commission has come up with this proposal. This lays the legal foundation to not treat every asylum application in the Netherlands also in the Netherlands. We continue to work hard at the European level to gain control over migration. I will be committed to this in the coming period.”

With the adjustment of the concept of safe third country, it becomes easier to say: we will not process your asylum application because there is also another safe country you can go to. However, there are conditions attached to this. The asylum seeker must also actually be able to gain access to that safe country. Additionally, international law and the asylum procedure regulation contain criteria that a country must meet to be considered safe. That remains unchanged.

The starting point is still that everyone applying for asylum must be able to do so in a safe manner. However, if there are agreements with a third country, this does not necessarily have to be in the Netherlands or the European Union. In the coming period, the Netherlands will work to finalize negotiations on this proposal as quickly as possible, both with other member states and the European Parliament.