EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn told the International Herald Tribune that Bulgaria and Romania had achieved significant progress in the judicial system but that the countries had to assure the European Commission these changes were genuine.

Rehn said that magistrates had to work without summer leaves to demonstrate decisive changes and convince the EU they were 'on the right track'.

When International Herald Tribune asked Rehn for some specific reforms Brussels expected, he said that 'witch hunt' was against EU standards and the union would never request Bulgaria and Romania to detain a certain number of people. However, countries applying for EU membership should prove they had functioning judicial systems, Rehn added.

Rehn was worried by the enlargement fatigue used as 'a scapegoat for domestic policy failures' by the original EU member states. He added that it was grounded in unemployment and globalisation fears of the Western society.

Bulgaria and Romania caused little cause for concern, but Turkey's EU accession in 10 years posed 'much bigger questions', Rehn said. The EU should work on softening this skepticism and should focus on positive messages like the one from the EU summit the previous week 'trumpeting' the success of the 2004 enlargement, he added.