France's Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau on Thursday said the European Union was "waiting for a proposal" from Britain to break the Brexit logjam, but warned the current agreement was not up for renegotiation.
Loiseau urged British politicians to "live up to the moment" as they prepared for next week's monumental votes on whether to accept the deal struck between the EU and Prime Minister Theresa May's government.
"My feeling is that this is a historic moment," Loiseau told the Guardian.
MPs already rejected the deal in January, demanding that May go back to renegotiate the so-called "backstop" solution, designed to keep the Irish border open.
Its opponents fear the legal guarantee would leave Britain indefinitely stuck in a customs union with the EU.
Talks on Wednesday to break the deadlock ended with "no solution", according to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, raising the chances that the deal will once again be rejected.
"So far, we are still waiting for a proposal from London," Loiseau said of negotiations.
"It's really a British initiative which has to come," she told the Guardian. "And it has to be supported domestically in the UK." But she later insisted on BBC Radio 4 the EU "cannot reopen" the withdrawal agreement "because it is balanced."