The European Commission will take legal action against the Netherlands if it presses ahead with plans to deport EU nationals who are jobless for three months, the NRC reports on Wednesday.

The paper bases its claim on a letter from the Commission to home affairs minister Henk Kamp and immigration minister Gerd Leers. Kamp said last year jobless people from eastern Europe should be deported from the Netherlands if they won’t go voluntarily.
Under EU laws, EU nationals have six months to find work in another European country, before they have to return home. To stay longer, they must be able to prove they have ‘a serious chance’ of finding a job.
Social security
The Commission is also critical of the Dutch decision to exclude people working in the Netherlands but living in another EU country from social security rights. This breaks EU rules on the rights of workers living in border areas, the paper says.
The letter is signed by employment commissioner Laszlo Andor and justice commissioner Viviane Reding. It was sent at the end of last year and has not yet been answered.
The letter states that the Commission has ‘serious concerns’ about the Dutch position and is not prepared to accept any compromise in such a ‘serious question’ as the free movement of people within the EU.