For our political group 2009 remains the year in which Croatia should join the EU. We will do all in our power to help in achieving that goal, Poettering said at a press conference in Strasbourg during a plenary session of the European Parliament.
EU enlargement will be the main topic of the afternoon part of the session, when the European Commission is due to present a final report on the readiness of Bulgaria and Romania to join the bloc on January 1 next year.
Poettering said his political group was aware that there were a number of areas in which Croatia was yet to implement reforms.
Poettering leads the most numerous faction in the European Parliament, which comprises the European People's Party and the European Democrats (EPP-ED).
According to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the date of Croatia's entry will also depend on when the question of European institutions is resolved.
Barroso said in Brussels on Monday, after meeting French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, that it would unwise to continue the enlargement process after the admission of Bulgaria and Romania until the question of the European Constitution was resolved.
The 25-member EU is currently operating according to the rules laid down in the Nice Treaty, which was designed for 27 member states, the quota to be filled with the admission of Bulgaria and Romania. The Nice Treaty was to be replaced with the European Constitution, but its ratification got stuck after it was rejected in referendums in France and the Netherlands.