Left‑wing opposition parties say the cabinet is giving the House of Representatives far too little time to examine the legislation for the European migration pact. During a debate, Lisa Westerveld (GroenLinks‑PvdA) said she had barely been able to study the government’s answers or consult experts. “I find that objectionable, because this is not a small law. It is by far the largest law I have dealt with in nine years as an MP,” she said.
Westerveld warned that the pact will have major consequences. She said implementing organisations must receive “full attention”. Last Friday, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) stated that it expects serious problems with the rollout. The organisation said key ICT systems are still not ready. The cabinet is pushing for speed because EU countries agreed to introduce the pact on 12 June this year.
The previous Schoof cabinet submitted the bill only in December. This left the House and the Senate about six months to complete their scrutiny. Last year, legislation took an average of 449 days to pass through both chambers.
“I had hoped we had left the hassle of the past few years behind us and were now handling legislation carefully,” Westerveld said. She referred to the turbulent ministerial period of PVV member Marjolein Faber. “Especially with laws that are so complicated and have so many consequences for implementation and for the people involved.”
Laurens Dassen of Volt said Westerveld had made “a valid point”.
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