By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The European Union, trying to ease the blow of a U.N. plan that would set Kosovo on the road to statehood, offered Serbia on Monday the prospect of an early resumption of talks on EU entry if it cooperated on war crimes.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels called in a joint statement for the quick establishment of a Serbian government "committed to reform and a European future".

They expressed readiness to resume talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, suspended last year, if Serbia showed "clear commitment and takes concrete and effective action for full cooperation" with the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

"If Serbia takes the right step ... then we in the EU can reach out and resume SAA negotiations," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told a news conference. "There is no change of policy, only a change of circumstances in Serbia."

The EU froze talks on the agreement -- a first step towards EU entry -- last year because of Serbia's failure to hand over war crimes suspects, including Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic, for trial in The Hague on genocide charges.

Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte appealed to the European Union last month not to resume the talks until Belgrade handed over Mladic.

The foreign ministers did not make clear whether Mladic's capture was a precondition for concluding the talks.

Diplomats said that by stressing the need for a government "committed to reform", the ministers were showing they wanted the next Serb government to show its EU credentials by ensuring that key posts in the interior ministry and intelligence services do not go to hardliners suspected of shielding Mladic.

KOSOVO FALLOUT WORRY

"This needs to give rise to a government based on democratic powers and on the road to Europe," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the news conference. "I know a lot of people don't want this and it won't be easy."

Diplomats say EU states, especially those geographically nearest Serbia like the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, are keen to encourage pro-EU forces in Serbia, concerned about the possible fallout from the potential loss of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo.

The Netherlands and Belgium have pushed for a harder line.

The ministers gave their backing to a U.N. plan for the future of Kosovo that would set it on the road to statehood, saying it would strengthen regional stability.

They expressed "full support" for the plan's author Martti Ahtisaari and urged Kosovo Albanians and Serbia to participate actively and constructively in consultations with him.

They said the European Union was ready to play a significant role in implementing the status settlement and would intensify preparations for its future role in Kosovo.

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO launched a "humanitarian" war to drive out Serbs accused of killing 10,000 Albanians and expelling 800,000 in a ruthless 1998-99 war.

Under the Ahtisaari plan, an international envoy -- a European official mandated by the United Nations and the European Union -- will take over supervision of Kosovo for a transition period and the EU will deploy a police mission alongside the current 16,500-strong NATO peace force. (Additional reporting by Mark John and Darren Ennis)

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