In an interview published by Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) on Monday, Poettering said it would be difficult but not impossible for Croatia to join the European Union in 2009 even without a new constitutional agreement.
He said that in the long run, EU enlargement to Croatia could also be the last EU enlargement wave.
After Croatia, there would most definitely be no more enlargement, Poettering said.
In the same interview, he called on the Polish leaders to stop blocking the process of adopting a new European agreement.