EU set to mark time with West Balkan hopefuls

BRUSSELS, Nov 1 (Reuters) The European Commission will not recommend that any of the Western Balkans countries takes a new step towards joining the European Union when it issues progress reports on the aspirants next week, EU sources say.

In contrast to last year, when Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Albania each climbed a rung on the ladder towards eventual membership, this year's reports will essentially mark time, the sources said.

That reflects both performance issues in each of the hopefuls and a mood of ''enlargement fatigue'' in the 25-nation bloc, with widespread calls for a pause in expansion after the entry of Bulgaria and Romania next January.

''We will have a de facto pause after Romania and Bulgaria join of perhaps five or six years without further accessions until Croatia is ready to join,'' a senior EU official said.

Croatia opened EU membership talks a year ago, having missed out on a wave of expansion in 2004.

The EU executive will avoid endorsing Macedonia's goal of starting accession negotiations next year due to concerns about politicisation of the civil service and a lack of dialogue with the parliamentary opposition, one official said.

''The Macedonians haven't done themselves many favours since the election (in July),'' he said.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski had shut out the main party representing the former Yugoslav republic's ethnic Albanian minority and replaced some 1,500 officials, politicising many state institutions.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said when Skopje was granted the prized official candidate status last year that it would take more than one annual progress report before entry talks begin.

SERBIA, BOSNIA STALLED Meanwhile, negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, the first step on the road to Brussels, remain frozen with Serbia because of its failure to arrest a key war crimes suspect, and are stalled with Bosnia because of a failure to implement an important police reform, the sources said.

In Serbia's case, the report is expected to say that the constitution adopted in a referendum last weekend is a step forward in democracy and modernisation from the previous charter dating from the era of former strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

But the official said the Commission would voice concern about the independence of the judiciary under the new arrangements.

The EU froze talks with Belgrade in May after it failed to make good on a promise to arrest and hand over former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic to the U N war crimes tribunal for trial on genocide charges.

Despite concerns from some member states, Rehn has insisted the negotiations remain suspended until the chief war crimes prosecutor certifies that Serbia is cooperating fully with the Hague tribunal.

Bosnia had hoped to conclude a Stabilisation and Association Agreement this year, but talks have been slowed by the failure to agree constitutional changes to ensure a better functioning of the state, and the refusal of the Bosnian Serb republic to implement a vital police reform, the sources said.

Albania, the poorest country in southeastern Europe, signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU in June and is not yet regarded as ready to take a further step towards candidate status.

REUTERS SP BS1521