EU says no to Dutch request for extension of extra border controls

The European Commission has denied the Netherlands' application for a six-month extension of stricter controls at the borders with Germany and Belgium. Several EU countries, including the Netherlands, have been urged to stop their extra border controls.

EU calls for the Netherlands to end extra border checks

Back in 2024, the Dutch government introduced tighter border controls as part of several measures it claimed would combat human trafficking and reduce the number of asylum seekers entering the country. At the end of last year, the tighter border controls were then extended until at least June 2026. 

Recently, the Dutch government requested another extension until the autumn of 2026, but the European Commission responded with a “preferably not”, reports Trouw. This response came on the same day that the Commission told several countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Slovenia, Norway and Sweden, to put an end to extra border checks. 

Under EU law, temporary internal border checks are only allowed if countries can demonstrate that there is a “serious threat to public order or internal security”, and that extra border controls are effective at combating this. 

Extra border checks in the Netherlands likely to end in September

One of the reasons the European Commission has told the Netherlands to end extra border checks is that they have reduced migration pressure by less than 1 percent. Indeed, the Dutch Court of Audit previously reported that additional border controls are not effective in reducing migration numbers.

According to Brussels, instead of extra border controls, the Netherlands could manage with random checks, for which it does not need permission. Minister for Asylum and Migration Bart van den Brink already wanted to stop border checks in September this year and make use of mobile checkpoints which are considered a more effective method for inspections.

“The Marechaussee analyses where checks can best be carried out, and vehicles are selected based on intelligence and a risk profile,” Van den Brink told Trouw. The mobile checks would take place within 20 kilometres of the border.