Serbia is expected to gain the status of candidate for EU membership next year when the Czech Republic holds the EU presidency in the first six months, to be followed by Sweden, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said yesterday.

The rejection of the treaty by Ireland should not have an impact on the integration of new candidate countries with the EU, Rehn said at a conference on the prospects of EU enlargement to include western Balkan countries in Prague.

Although the process of EU enlargement had slowed down due to the complications with the Lisbon treaty it had not stopped, he added

The most difficult part of the EU accession talks with Croatia will probably take place under the Czech Republic's EU presidency, Rehn said, adding that the year 2009 would be under the mark of this region.

The Lisbon Treaty was rejected by Irish voters in a referendum in June. The entry into force of the treaty requires the ratification of all the 27 member states of the EU.

Czech deputy prime minister for EU affairs Alexandr Vondra said after talking with Rehn that the western Balkan countries will be very important for Czech presidency, the Czech news agency CTK said.

"It will be one of foreign political priorities," Vondra said.

Rehn said that the European Commission would publish in the autumn a report on the state of enlargement that will be the basis for the EU December summit, CTK said.

The summit is to define the EU position on enlargement that will be the basic document for the Czech EU presidency that will start in January 2009, it added.

Rehn said he firmly believed that the negotiations with Croatia proceeded successfully.

The negotiations could be completed by end-2009 and that Croatia could enter the EU around the year 2010, he said.