Dutch ministers have no plans for new anti-terror legislation

The Dutch cabinet has no plans to bring in new counter-terrorism legislation in response to last week’s attacks in Paris, prime minister Mark Rutte told MPs on Wednesday evening.

Opposition MPs have complained new measures announced last year are taking too long to be finalised or do not go far enough and raised their concerns during a debate in parliament on the terror attacks in the French capital.

However, ministers declined to make promises about additional measures. Calls from the VVD for the police to be given automatic weapons were dismissed by justice minister Ivo Opstelten. He said he wants first to talk to unions and police chiefs before making any decisions.

Calls from the CDA, D66, ChristenUnie and SP for an increase in funding for the security services were also dismissed. Rutte said claims that they do not have the resources to deal with all the extra work they have been given were unproven. Extra cash will only be made available if the situation changes, he said.

He did agree to set aside €1.5m for extra security measures at Jewish institutions.

Rutte also pledged to try to speed up the finalisation of various pieces of legislation to strip dual national jihadis of their Dutch nationality.