Brussels  - The European Union acknowledged Monday that its takeover of the Kosovo administration from the United Nations, planned for June 15, would have to be postponed owing to technical and legal disputes.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner admitted that the deployment of the EU-lex mission was suffering from "delays", while EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the bloc would have to wait and see how the situation evolves.

Italy's defence minister, Ignazio La Russa, said EU ministers meeting in Brussels had discussed the possibility of staging the takeover in the autumn.

"Our contingency planning, including on the issue of the transfer of authority from UNMIK, is ongoing. We will have operational assessments in the event of changes in the political and strategic context," Solana said.

The EU-lex mission was supposed to take over from the UN's UNMIK on June 15, when the constitution of the newly independent state is due to come into force.

But the planned transition has been marred by a lack of cooperation between the two international bodies as well as legal problems.

The EU insists its mission is covered by UN Security Council resolution 1244. Russia, which holds veto powers in New York, disagrees.

Solana said he planned to discuss the issue with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at a meeting scheduled for Thursday.

Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's foreign minister, added that the EU had to be careful not to split Kosovo by letting the UN remain in charge of the more volatile northern region of Mitrovica, which is predominantly ethnic Serbian.

Adding to the EU's difficulties, seven EU member states have not yet recognized the formerly Serbian province. These include Spain, Portugal and Greece. (dpa)