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Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker discuss 'various options' over Brexit backstop

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker shakes hands with British Prime Minister Theresa May before their meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels 
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker shakes hands with British Prime Minister Theresa May before their meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels  European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker shakes hands with British Prime Minister Theresa May before their meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels 

BRITISH prime minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker have held discussions over a potential solution to the current impasse over the Irish border backstop.

In a joint statement released today, Mrs May and Mr Juncker said they had "robust but constructive" talks in Brussels.

"Despite the challenges, the two leaders agreed that their teams should hold talks as to whether a way through can be found that would gain the broadest possible support in the UK Parliament and respect the guidelines agreed by the European Council," the statement said.

"The prime minister and the president will meet again before the end of February to take stock of these discussions."

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UK Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and EU negotiator Michel Barnier will hold talks in Strasbourg on Monday.

The statement said Mrs May "raised various options" for dealing with MPs' concerns about the backstop.

"The prime minister described the context in the UK parliament, and the motivation behind last week's vote in the House of Commons seeking a legally-binding change to the terms of the backstop.

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"She raised various options for dealing with these concerns in the context of the Withdrawal Agreement in line with her commitments to the parliament."

Mr Juncker "underlined that the EU27 will not reopen the Withdrawal Agreement" but "expressed his openness to add wording to the Political Declaration agreed by the EU27 and the UK in order to be more ambitious in terms of content and speed when it comes to the future relationship".