The fifth anniversary of the European Union’s eastward enlargement merits a louder fanfare than it has enjoyed in these difficult times.

The accession of the ex-Communist states has healed cold war divisions and helped eastern European states advance their economic modernisation. The benefits of EU membership now reach 500m people. The fears of gainsayers have been confounded: the union has not ground to a halt with its enlargement to 27 countries; the west has not been swamped by welfare scroungers; east Europe’s farmers have not gone bust.