Brussels- Croatia has made good progress, but still has much to do in the fields of judicial reform and competition before it can start European Union membership talks next year, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday.

Barroso was speaking after a meeting in Brussels with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.

"I congratulated the prime minister and his government for the good progress in the (EU) accession negotiations over the past months. Of course, there is still much work ahead," Barroso said.

Brussels - The August war in Georgia highlights the need for the European Union and Kazakhstan to work together, especially on energy issues, officials from the two sides said on Tuesday.

But the war is not likely to stop Kazakh companies investing in Georgian energy pipelines, Kazakh Trade Minister Vladimir Shkolnik told journalists after a meeting with EU officials in Brussels.

"Any investment is an economic decision and always carries a certain risk, but I imagine in this case the risks will be minimal," he said.

Brussels  - Lufthansa is to take over Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines, the two carriers said Monday in Brussels, just over two weeks after confirming they were in merger talks.

In a first step, the big German airline is to pay 65 million euros (91 million dollars) to acquire 45 per cent of Brussels Airlines from SN Holding. Lufthansa can acquire the rest between 2011 and 2014 at a market price not to exceed 250 million euros.

Brussels  - European Union diplomats Monday rubber-stamped a ceasefire observers' mission to Georgia and agreed to help the country with an extra 500 million euros (714 million dollars) in aid.

But the bloc's foreign ministers, caught between the crossfire of a Russian veto and criticisms from NATO, were forced to concede that their observers would not be deployed to the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, at least for the time being.

Brussels  - The Dutch government on Monday vetoed European Union attempts to implement a trade deal with Serbia, saying that Belgrade is still not cooperating fully with international war-crimes prosecutors.

"There is better cooperation, but I do not find myself in the position to be able to conclude that there is full cooperation," Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen told journalists after the meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels.

Brussels - Red-faced European Union diplomats on Monday confirmed that a peace conference on the Georgian crisis, initially scheduled to be held in Geneva on October 15, would have to be moved because it clashes with a long-planned EU summit in Brussels.

"We arranged (the peace talks) for October 15 ... that was a bit of a slip-up because there will be a (European) council (summit). So it will be a little bit later," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said after a meeting with EU counterparts.