MPs from parties opposing higher university fees for slow students are meeting on Tuesday in an effort to come up with a joint proposal to scrap the plan.

Parliament has been recalled from summer recess to debate the issue on Thursday. Opposition to the scheme mounted after Christian Democrat leader Sybrand van Haersma Buma said he no longer supported charging students who take more than four years to complete their degree an extra €3,000 a year.
Junior education minister Halbe Zijlstra has so far refused to withdraw the legislation, which is due to come into effect on September 1, even though a majority of MPs now oppose it.