Migration minister Marjolein Faber has formally notified Brussels she wants an opt-out of EU asylum rules so that the Netherlands can enact the “toughest refugee regime ever”.

“I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration opt-out for the Netherlands within the EU,” she said on social media. “We have to be in charge of our own asylum policy once again.”

An opt-out is one of the ways in which the right-wing government hopes to reduce refugee-related migration, but legal experts say it is very unlikely to succeed.

Denmark and Ireland have opt-outs from EU treaties on freedom, security and justice in general as well as Schengen.

But an opt-out for the Netherlands would require a treaty change and that would only be possible if all 27 member states vote in favour and that in itself will be a long and time consuming process.

“The plan, is considered far-fetched and symbolic, with little to no chance of succeeding as it would require re-tweaking highly sensitive legislation and could open the floodgates for similar demands,” Euro News reported earlier.

A European Commission spokeswoman said on Thursday the request had been received but declined to speculate on the response. “An opt out is only possible if there are changes to the treaty,” she said. “We don’t expect any immediate changes.”

The opt-out is unconnected to the government’s other plans declare an “asylum crisis” which would allow it to bypass parliament and bring in other measures to stop the number of new arrivals.

The Volkskrant reported earlier this week that Faber is using outdated figures about the forecast number of refugees in her calculations.

Last year, the justice ministry estimated 70,000 refugees would come to the Netherlands this year but the figure is likely to be around 45,000. And Faber’s department has based its calculations on 76,400 refugees in 2025 and 78,780 in 2026, with a budget mounting up to €9.7 billion.

The figures are estimates made in April 2023 and new estimates may be forthcoming in October, the paper said.