Speaking after a special session of the Croatian government which he attended, Verheugen said the European Commission would start negotiations with Croatia after the European Council's decision in December.
If we say early 2005, that means the beginning and not the end of the year, he stressed.
There will be no new conditions for Croatia to meet and the country's progress will be judged by its merits. No country will be forced to wait for some other country, Verheugen said at a joint new conference he held with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader.
The Croatian PM said this statement was Verheugen's most important statement today.
"We are the architects of our own future," the PM said, adding that the pace of Croatia's progress would depend on how fast the country would meet the set conditions.
Sanader said he had told Verheugen that his government was ready to complete the membership talks by mid-2007.
He voiced hope that Croatian citizens would be able to appreciate the fact that the advantages of EU membership were bigger than the drawbacks.
"Croatia wants to meet all criteria and will insist on that," the PM said while speaking about the three political criteria stated in Croatia's pre-accession strategy issued on October 6 - cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal, refugee return and regional cooperation.
The EC official said at the end of the new conference he was confident more than ever that the Commission's next composition would be able to complete negotiations with Croatia and assess that it was ready for membership in the EU.
Asked whether he believed that the latest report by the war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte, who insists on arresting General Ante Gotovina in November, would postpone the start of the talks with Croatia, Verheugen said he had been assured by government members that Croatia would do everything possible to solve that problem.
I have no doubts at all that this government will meet all conditions, he said.
The EC official today also held a meeting with President Stjepan Mesic, during which he expressed satisfaction with Croatia's progress in recent years and stressed that President Mesic had contributed considerably to such developments, the President's Office said in a statement among other things.