He said Croatia should be satisfied with the conclusions of the European Union's December 14-15 summit.
In the conclusions on enlargement, the Union's leaders said that the speed of the accession process would depend on the results of reforms in the negotiating country and that every country would be evaluated based on its own merits.
Presenting a programme of Germany's upcoming EU presidency, Steinmeier said Germany would continue the enlargement process taking into account the Union's absorption capacities and in accordance with the December 2006 conclusions of the Council of the EU.
He said Germany would support the ongoing accession negotiations with Croatia and Turkey in line with their progress in meeting commitments.
Germany feels that the prospect of EU membership for western Balkan countries is necessary for the stabilisation of the region, provided that those countries meet the strict criteria and taking into account the Union's absorption capacity.
This refers in particular to Serbia given the expected political changes in Kosovo and the fact that Montenegro has become independent, read the programme of the German EU presidency.
Steinmeier said the biggest challenge for the German EU presidency was the issue of the European constitution. At the end of its presidency in June 2007, Germany would put forward an agreed proposal for the resumption of the constitutional process so that a solution could be found by the end of 2008.