Rehn, who arrived in Croatia for a two-day visit earlier in the day, attended the conference called "Croatian challenges in reforming the judiciary and fighting against corruption and organised crime", organised by the Supreme Court.
Present at the conference were also Croatian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, as well as Ivica Racan, the head of the parliamentary committee for monitoring Croatia-EU membership talks and other political and judicial officials.
Rehn congratulated Croatia for the achieved progress, and commented on the situation saying that "the glass is now half full".
According to him, now when Croatia is holding accession negotiations with the European Union, it is the right time for the country to establish the state of affairs in the reform in the judiciary and in the fight against corruption, key issues for the success of the process of integration with the Union.
The issues are a part of political criteria in accordance with the 1993 Copenhagen Treaty and their solution is necessary for creating a safe and law-based climate for market economy and the adoption of EU standards, the European Commission official said.
Efforts to combat corruption are a result of the wish of all Croatian citizens to live in a law-based state, PM Sanader said adding that it was also the continuation of the struggle for creating Croatia.
Recently Croatia has adopted sets of laws and regulations enabling courts to be more efficient, Sabor Speaker Seks said.