Speculation is growing that the far-right PVV is prepared to ditch its demand to use emergency powers to introduce stricter rules on asylum, after Geert Wilders last week warned the coalition could collapse on the issue.

Prime minister Dick Schoof said he was discussing “various options” with the leaders of the four coalition parties, including the emergency clauses in the Aliens Act that would allow asylum minister Marjolein Faber to bypass parliament.

Talks are taking place as ministers prepare to finalise the government’s asylum policy at a cabinet meeting next Monday.

“If I say various options are being discussed, then that literally means we are talking about other options,” Schoof told journalists in parliament on Tuesday.

The prime minister’s words were seen as confirmation that Wilders is willing to shift on what he has previously said is a red-line issue for his party.

As recently as last week Wilders said he was unsure if the PVV could support an alternative route, such as a fast-track bill, that would give MPs the chance to debate and vote on the plans.

Legal basis

Confusion reigned on Tuesday when Faber said she had submitted a long-awaited document outlining the legal basis for her plans to the coalition parties, only for party leaders including Wilders to deny having seen it.

The PVV’s coalition partners have queried the use of emergency powers, notably Nieuw Sociaal Contract, which said it would not support the measure unless it was endorsed by the Council of State.

Civil servants advised NSC justice minister Judith Uitermark that there was no legal justification for going down the emergency route because the situation at the asylum reception centre in Ter Apel did not constitute a crisis under Dutch law.

Officially none of the party leaders would comment on the contents of the discussions, but Wilders described the talks as constructive. “We are in negotiations and the atmosphere is good,” he said.

The discussion has now moved to what concessions the PVV might extract from the other parties in return for abandoning its insistence on emergency powers. Faber wants to tighten rules on admitting asylum seekers’ family members, access to legal aid and refugee accommodation, as well as freezing new claims and speeding up the deportation of people whose applications are refused.

NSC leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven said: “We are talking about all options, emergency law or no emergency law, but we’re still waiting to see the legal justification.”