The EU could offer new guarantees to the U.K. to win its support for a deal that avoids an Irish border dispute following Brexit, Reuters reported, citing a leading EU lawmaker.
The EU has mandated the so-called Irish backstop for any divorce deal before Britain leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019.
"We are open to introducing some changes to the backstop solution so that it is politically acceptable for the U.K.," said Danuta Hubner, chair of the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee. "It has definitely never been the intention of the EU to threaten the territorial integrity of the U.K. with the backstop."
The EU laid out a plan for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland so that Northern Ireland could remain in the EU customs union and part of the single market.
The U.K. rejected the plan, with Prime Minister Theresa May saying it would be tantamount to pulling the province away from the rest of the U.K.