Negotiations with the EU should be launched in early 2005 but no later than March.
Sanader said he expected his government to have strength to complete the negotiations within two years, namely by 2007, and added that then it was up to the EU to decide about the date of Croatia's admission into the EU.
"I am confident that this government had the strength, will, knowledge and political resoluteness to complete negotiations by 2007," Sanader said.
He said that the drawing up of the pre-accession economic programme, an individual document of every country which defines the economic policy and reforms that are to be implemented in the process of joining the EU, was nearing the end.