Cabinet plans tougher enforcement on Dutch language requirement

Local councils that fail to cut the benefits of welfare claimants who do not speak adequate Dutch will face financial penalties, under plans being drawn up by social affairs minister Thierry Aartsen, De Telegraaf reported on Wednesday.

People claiming welfare have been required since 2016 to speak Dutch at 1F level – roughly the level of children leaving primary school. The rule applies to all claimants regardless of origin, but in practice mainly concerns refugees with residence permits.

According to the paper, councils that refuse to apply the rule will first be given a formal warning and instructions to improve standards. If that fails, the cabinet would dock the money they receive from the central government to pay out benefits.

The penalties for claimants are also set to rise. Councils can currently cut a claimant’s benefit by 20%, then 40%, and stop it altogether if their Dutch does not improve. The first two steps would go up to 25% and 50%.

Aartsen also wants to tighten how the requirement is assessed. At present, someone can be deemed to meet it because they had eight years of Dutch schooling or passed the integration (inburgering) exam.

Instead, councils would have to test whether poor Dutch is actually stopping someone finding work, which is expected to bring more people under the rule.

Rarely enforced

Councils have largely refused to apply the language requirement since it was introduced. A survey by NRC last year found just two of the 31 largest municipalities had cut a benefit over the rule in the previous two years, and seven said they never would. MPs then passed a motion calling on the cabinet to make councils enforce it.

The previous cabinet had earmarked up to €17.4 million a year for language teaching to help councils apply the rule, but that money has since been scrapped to cover setbacks elsewhere in the budget, the Telegraaf said.

Aartsen, the paper reported, believes enough budget remains and that claimants are primarily responsible for improving their own Dutch.