If the new European Union treaty, which is expected to be agreed at an Intergovernmental Conference in the autumn, goes into force in 2009, the Treaty of Nice, which stipulates that every EU country has one commissioner, with a maximum 27 commissioners in total, will no longer be valid.
Laitenberger explained that if Croatia joined the EU when the the rule that each country should have one commissioner was still in force, the rule would apply for Croatia.
According to a solution from the failed EU constitution used in the new treaty, which has yet to be written, as of 2014 the number of commissioners will be reduced to two-thirds of EU countries. To meet the principle of equality, the commissioners will rotate.
Laitenberger reiterated that the new treaty paved the way for further EU enlargement, as stated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EC President Jose Manuel Barroso at the end of an EU summit on Saturday, when agreement on the new treaty was reached.
Laitenberger said the treaty paved the way for the continuation of enlargement, despite some assessments that the agreement on the new treaty envisages new enlargement conditions.
The decision-making process from the Treaty of Nice will remain in the new treaty as the two-thirds majority decision-making will be postponed until 2014, with a three-year transitional period until 2017.
Croatia will most likely have seven votes, and 12 or 13 members of the European Parliament.