The European Commission (EC) will lauch preparations for drafting the report on Serbia's progress on its EU path on June 15, which will have considerable influence when heads of states and governments of EU countries meet at the summit in December to decide whether to grant Serbia EU candidate status and possibly set the date of the pre-accession talks.

Although the preparations for drafting the report, which will also contain the EC opinion regarding Serbia's EU candidacy application, are already starting, Serbia has ample time to meet all conditions necessary for obtaining EC's positive opinion, Tanjug learnt at the EC Enlargement Directorate.

The preparations are still internal and we are still far from the point when we can specify the nature of the outcome, a high official of the EC Enlargement Directorate told Tanjug and added that Serbia still has time to continue implementing certain reforms and adopting necessary laws, since the deadline for completion of these tasks is beginning of September.

He expressed hope that Serbia will do all that needs to be done by September so that the EC would be able to issue a positive assessment regarding the country's candidacy.

At the Enhanced Permanent Dialogue held in Belgrade on June 10, during which officials made an overview of Serbia's achievements so far with regard to meeting several hundred recommendations included in the latest report on its progress on the EU path, participants assessed that Serbia has made great progress but that it should continue conducting reforms so that the EC could issue a positive opinion.