Accession to the European Union should not be a mere formality.

If any country could join irrespective of whether they meet basic standards as regards democracy, the rule of law, the functioning of the state, of their economy, and so on, we could quickly find ourselves on a downward slope into chaos.

It is absolutely right, therefore, that the European Parliament has today reaffirmed that Bulgaria and Romania must meet tough targets before they can join in 2007.

If the Parliament had given their respective applications a straight "No", there would have been no incentive for them to reform. If we'd have offered them a "Yes" without imposing any conditions, there would still be no incentive to improve. These conditions are varied, but amongst the most important is to root out the corruption which has plagued their judicial systems for too long.

If these improvements are made then I have no doubt that they will play an important role in the democratic processes of the EU.

Making a success of the enlargement of the European Union helps ensure stability, security and continued economic prosperity for our continent, but without the "tough love" enforced on candidate countries, we will never truly drive out low standards of human rights, law enforcement or corruption. EU enlargement can help drive these reforms, and also, when completed, give us the scale to compete economically with the USA, China and India.