German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen speaks during the annual Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert

(Reuters) - Europe is working on continuing defence cooperation with the United Kingdom after it leaves the European Union, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen told Deutsche Welle in an interview on Friday.

"We are working on a regulation - the so-called third-state regulation - that gives access to countries like our British friends, which we want to have in our European Defence Union," the defence minister said bit.ly/2DJS0x6.

Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29.