EU ready to give UK more guarantees that 'backstop' will be temporary

BERLIN - The European Union is ready to give the United Kingdom more guarantees that the Irish "backstop" is only intended to be temporary, the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator said on Friday.

"We know that there are misgivings in Britain that the backstop could keep Britain forever connected to the EU," Michel Barnier said in an interview with Germany's Die Welt newspaper to be published on Saturday.

"This is not the case. And we are ready to give further guarantees, assurances and clarifications that the backstop should only be temporary."