UPDATE 1-UK and European officials discussing delay to Brexit -Telegraph
The Telegraph cited three unidentified EU sources as saying British officials had been "putting out feelers" and "testing the waters" on an extension of Article 50, Britain's formal notice to withdraw from the European Union.
A spokeswoman for Downing Street declined immediate comment on the report, as did a spokesman at the British ministry responsible for exiting the European Union.
The future of Brexit remains deeply uncertain as British lawmakers are currently expected to next week vote down the divorce deal that Prime Minister Theresa May struck in November with the European Union.
Without an approved deal, the world's fifth-largest economy is on course to leave the EU on March 29, a step business chiefs and investors fear would silt up the arteries of trade, spook financial markets and dislocate supply chains.
The ultimate Brexit outcome will shape Britain's $2.8 trillion economy, have far reaching consequences for the unity of the United Kingdom and determine whether London can keep its place as one of the top two global financial centres.
In the June 23, 2016 referendum, 17.4 million voters, or 52 percent, backed Brexit while 16.1 million, or 48 percent, backed staying in the bloc.
May formally began Britain's divorce from the European Union on March 29, 2017, by triggering Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty. That ushered a two-year period of negotiation on the divorce terms.
The European Union's top court, the Court of Justice, ruled last month that the United Kingdom can unilaterally revoke its Article 50 divorce notice, raising the hopes of pro-Europeans who hope to stop Brexit with another referendum. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Brown and Diane Craft)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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