Although it might seem somewhat superfluous to do so, it is worth remembering just why this enlargement is taking place. The process of taking in these countries has been described rather poetically as the "soul" of the European Union. The EU is righting a past wrong, the artificial division of Europe which lasted for too long after the Second World War is being brought to an end and this marks a return to normality. Accession will allow the countries of central and eastern Europe to turn their backs on the threat of chaos, tyranny and poverty which ended hardly a decade ago. It will underpin their achievement of transforming their societies and economies, and basing them on democratic principles and the rule of law. The cast-iron assurance they are all seeking is that there will be no going back to the dark days.