The 1999 progress reports on each of the candidate countries have examined the political and democratic criteria for enlargement. Slovakia has made significant progress and so have the other candidate countries of central and Eastern Europe by strengthening their democratic systems. All candidates need, however, to continue judicial reforms, fight corruption and pay attention to the treatment of ethnic minorities, especially the Roma population. All candidate countries except for Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Lithuania are considered to have a functioning market economy, which are able to cope with the pressures of a competitive marketplace. Judging the progress made in adopting EU law in force or acquis communautaire, the Commission has conceded that all candidates have persisted in their efforts towards legal approximation.