PEACE is inevitably in my thoughts at this time of year. Lasting peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland remains elusive.

Solving long term bitter conflicts takes a lot of patience and hard work. We must never give up trying. Peace and people's freedom from the bullet are prizes too important to let them slip from our grasp.

My old friend, John Hume, often tells us that the EU is the longest running and most successful peace process in history. That was why the recent Nice Summit was so important.

Of course, it was good that Britain got everything it wanted. Of course, it was good that any lingering ideas of a European superstate were killed off for good, although, no doubt, those whose views of the EU are distorted by paranoid delusions will continue to rant.

The real importance of Nice, however, was that it paved the way for new countries from central and eastern Europe to join the EU. Enlargement will help secure the peace and prosperity of the whole continent. Quite a prize.

GARY TITLEY, Labour MEP for the North West, Spring Lane, Radcliffe, Manchester.