The Dutch government could face more than €100 million in legal penalties after a recent landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) sharply limited the grounds on which EU member states can delay asylum decisions.
The court’s judgment in the case of Zimir on May 8 makes clear that the Netherlands cannot justify its lengthy processing delays by pointing to gradual increases in asylum applications or staffing shortages — a direct challenge to how the Dutch asylum system has been managed for years.
At present, some 18,000 asylum seekers in the Netherlands have been waiting between six and 15 months for a decision, far exceeding the six-month legal deadline set by the EU’s Asylum Procedures Directive. Each may now be entitled to compensation — up to €7,500 per person — for the state’s failure to meet that timeline. If large numbers seek redress, the total cost could easily surpass €100 million, on top of €36.8 million already paid out in such penalties last year.
“The government really needs to intervene to prevent such sky-high penalties from being paid,” warned NSC MP Diederik Boomsma, calling the situation a “legal quagmire,” as cited by De Telegraaf. He pointed to increasingly complex court rulings and heightened legal scrutiny that demand faster decisions even as procedural burdens grow.
In Zimir, the ECJ held that member states may extend the normal six-month asylum decision period only when there is a “significant increase in applications within a short period” — for example, a sudden influx of refugees due to conflict. Crucially, the court said that “a gradual increase in applications over an extended period” does not justify extending the deadline. Nor do structural issues like staff shortages or existing backlogs.
The ruling responded to questions from the Netherlands’ Council of State and directly rebukes the Dutch government’s long-standing use of emergency measures to justify decision delays. “Member states must build and maintain treatment capacity that reflects the normal and foreseeable number of asylum applications,” the ECJ said. If unforeseen surges occur, countries are allowed a short period to scale up capacity, but that time must be used to urgently recruit and train staff, not to indefinitely defer legal decisions.
Under previous Minister Eric van der Burg, the government extended the asylum decision period to 15 months, citing a high influx of applications and staffing gaps at the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). Such a delay must now be tackled swiftly by the center-right government to avoid hefty fines.
Current Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber (PVV) admitted to MPs last week that no short-term solution exists. “It is a matter of years,” she said, to clear the backlog and return to legally compliant timelines. In the meantime, the IND continues to take an average of 72 weeks — nearly three times the allowed period — before conducting a second interview, which precedes any formal asylum decision.
Critics say the state has only itself to blame. “The IND still handles cases in a matter of days — the problem is they only start months later,” said asylum lawyer Michael Yap to Dutch media, urging the government to finally take the backlog seriously. He noted that in previous years, asylum applications were regularly processed within a week.
Attempts to scrap the financial penalty system for delays have also been floated, but legal experts warn that such a move would violate EU law. “You cannot remove a remedy that is there to enforce a right,” one EU law scholar told De Telegraaf.
While asylum claims from Syria, Iraq, and Yemen have dropped sharply in recent months due to political shifts abroad, the pressure on the Dutch asylum system remains intense. Family reunification, especially among Syrians already granted protection, continues to drive the numbers. Thousands of asylum seekers are still housed in costly temporary accommodation, including hotels charging more than €300 per night, adding to the taxpayer burden.
In response to these pressures, Minister Faber has proposed sweeping reforms, including capping family reunification rights and tightening asylum pathways. But the ECJ’s judgment now places a legal ceiling on how much flexibility member states have when it comes to ignoring asylum timelines.
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