Potocnik was taking part in a political forum organised by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Croatia's former European integration minister Neven Mimica attended the event as well.
The topic discussed at the event was "Croatia Ahead of Accession Talks: Challenges and Opportunities - Experience of the Slovene Neighbour".
Potocnik said that the pre-accession strategy for Croatia contained three new elements which did not exist in the pre-accession documents of other member-countries.
The new elements will not slow down, but rather help speed up Croatia's membership talks, he said.
The EC suggests in the pre-accession strategy that before the start of negotiations on individual chapters of the acquis communautaire, one should define criteria for closing the chapters.
The second element is the introduction of a clause on the suspension of negotiations which, Potocnik said, was a form of control over the fulfilment of promises.
The third element is the EC's proposal that talks on a chapter of the acquis communautaire start immediately after "screening", i.e. a detailed analysis of the degree of adjustment of national legislation to EU standards.
Previously membership talks started after screening was completed for all chapters.
Mimica said that there was a political consensus between the Croatian government and the opposition on the fulfilment of the political admission criteria.
He expressed confidence that Croatia would not be stopped on its path to Europe over the case of runaway Hague tribunal indictee Ante Gotovina.
Speaking about bilateral relations, Mimica and Potocnik said Slovenia and Croatia were two friendly countries whose relations were not burdened by the past and that they should solve outstanding issues in that spirit.