Leading article: A potent symbol of peace and unity

The European Union will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend with an all-night party in a rejuvenated Berlin. It is a joyous coincidence that the anniversary should fall in the middle of the German presidency. What more conclusive evidence could there be of what the European Union has achieved than around-the-clock festivities beneath the Brandenburg Gate? The symbol of Europe's post-war division has now become the most potent symbol of Europe's unity.

Of course, the EU as it has evolved from the six-member European Economic Community is far from flawless. From the remoteness of its institutions, through its clumsy administrative structures, to its labyrinthine bureaucracy, the EU can appear all too often as a cobbled-together machine of Heath-Robinson complexity. Nor are perennial complaints about the "democratic deficit" without foundation. There are good arguments for streamlining EU structures and trying to bring all parties to this pioneering enterprise closer than they currently feel they are.

Related articles

• Denis MacShane: Why I am an unashamed enthusiast for Europe
• So, what has Europe ever done for us? Apart from...
• 50 reasons to love the European Union
• Search the news archive for more stories

But none of this should be allowed, as it all too often is in Britain, to eclipse the truly remarkable success of the European project. A treaty that originated in the desire of far-sighted politicians to banish war from the continent has brought results beyond anything they could have imagined. The EEC of 50 years ago has become today's 27-strong European Union, and each nation has a voice at the top table.

EU citizens can travel across the continent without visas. We can live and - with some temporary exceptions - work where we please. Common border security arrangements unite 15 of these countries; 13 now share a common currency. In the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights all 27 have signed up to some of the highest ethical standards that bind any group of nations. Abolition of the death penalty is a requirement, as is acceptance of verdicts handed down by the European Court of Justice.

While simmering internal disagreement, usually on budgets, may have kept the European Union from boasting more loudly of its achievements, another explanation could be the sheer modesty of expectations. Few believed, inside or outside the EU, that the euro would ever come into being, let alone that it would become a strong currency so soon and increasingly a reserve currency of choice. What is more, the EU's economic strength and the productivity of its citizens have made it a bloc well able to defend its interests against the protectionist instincts of others, including the United States.

Against this must be set the effective abandonment of the Constitutional Treaty after the voters of France and the Netherlands rejected it. The supposed crisis of confidence that followed these referendums, however, can now be seen for the crisis of leadership that it was. That ill-fated treaty was actually ratified by two-thirds of EU members - and a document that rationalised and updated existing EU legislation would still be desirable. But the past two years have shown that the EU can survive for the time being with the institutions it has. Cooperation is as much a matter of political will as it is of legislation. Where collaborative, cross-border efforts are essential, as on climate change, for instance, the EU has shown that it has the capacity to act.

In its 50 years, the EU has shown more cohesion than division, sometimes surprising itself. And it has become a model for international association that is admired around the world. Seen from the inside, it might seem short on efficiency, democracy and common purpose, but too often our critical introspection blinds us to its merits. The best testimonial for the European Union at 50 is the queue of would-be members clamouring to join.