Daul, who heads the biggest group in the European Parliament which gathers people's parties and Christian Democrat parties, congratulated Croatia on the progress made so far in the negotiating process.
Enlargement is one of the biggest successes of our foreign policy. It has helped countries get rid of totalitarianism. We should continue with enlargement and if both Croatia and the EU are ready, Croatian voters may be able to take part in the 2009 elections for the European Parliament. I support that, Daul said during a debate on foreign policy at today's plenary session, at whih High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana was the key speaker.
Martin Schultz, head of the Socialists, the second largest group in the European Parliament, supported Croatia too, saying that a new enlargement round would require the reform of European institutions.
We strongly support Croatia and its efforts to take part in the elections in 2009, and for that we need institutional reforms without which we will not be able to admit Croatia, said Schultz.
The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday adopted a report supporting Croatia's efforts to complete accession negotiations on time so that the European Parliament could give its consent for its admission before the next parliamentary elections in June 2009. This is the first European document in which the year 2009 is mentioned as the target year for Croatia's admission to the EU.