From Assisting to Requiring Integration

The question under which conditions citizenship should be granted to immigrants has been a topical issue in the political debate in the Netherlands since the early 1980s. The chapter summarises the evolution of the policy agenda on integration and naturalisation in the Netherlands over the past three decades and analyses the close relation between these two policy areas. It highlights in particular the paradigm change of the new integration policy that started in 2004 and current close links between immigration, integration and naturalisation policies. The chapter ends with a discussion of the likely effects of the current policy mix.