In America, they have Super Tuesday. Europe is about to have a Super Sunday, with elections for the European Parliament taking place across the 28-member EU, ending on May 25. That same Sunday, Ukraine will be holding a presidential election. The next day, Egypt will hold its own presidential vote. And then, towards the end of that week, on May 29, President Vladimir Putin’s pet project – the formation of a Eurasian Union – will receive the formal go-ahead with a signing ceremony between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Is there any connection between this frenzy of democratic and diplomatic action? Yes – because, by the end of May, we should know a lot more about the EU’s ability to act as a beacon of prosperity and stability to the unstable and poorer regions that surround it.

The EU aspires to play a crucial role in spreading peace, prosperity and good government to its wider neighbourhood. Its biggest success in performing that role came with the “big-bang” enlargement of 2004, when the union went from 15 to 25 members – and swallowed most of the countries of the former Soviet bloc. These nations had accepted a rigorous programme of economic and political reforms to ready themselves for entry through the pearly gates of Brussels. It was a triumphant demonstration of the power of the European ideal.