vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic, made headlines recently when he fulminated against Europe's "creeping unification". But while Mr Klaus is perhaps the best-known politician from the European Union's new, ex-communist states, he is far from representative. Most of Mr Klaus's fellow leaders are far more comfortable about the club they joined last May, with good reason: membership is turning out better for eastern Europe than supporters of accession dared hope.

Citizens of eastern Europe, too, appear in the main to share their leaders' satisfaction. The EU-sponsored Eurobarometer opinion poll shows that, across the EU, overall support for union membership rose 8 percentage points to 56 per cent between April and October last year - the biggest increase since 1995. Not only have the economic benefits started flowing faster than expected, but the political advantages of membership have also become much clearer.