EU chef Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said last week in an interview with Die Welt that the EU is prepared to give the UK further guarantees that the "Irish backstop" - a customs union that would avoid inspections at the Ireland-NI border - is intended to be a temporary measure, to be used only in the case of the "worst-case scenario" (i.e., a "no-deal" Brexit).

Barnier added that the EU won't permit a time limit to be placed on the backstop provision, or give the UK the right to unilaterally opt out of it.

It's very unlikely that the UK will be exiting the EU later this month, as originally planned, as debates in Parliament continue.