There is dismay at the bureaucratic rigidity and gigantism of the 80,000 pages of the acquis communautaire, which they have to adopt before being let in to the club.

Until now, it has been a cardinal dogma of the Union that all candidates for membership must accept the acquis communautaire , as the inherited backlog of Community legislation is known.

All of this is in sharp contrast with the treatment given the EU candidates. They were assisted by thousands of experts in adopting the EU's legendary, 80,000 page acquis communautaire . legislative package.

Without that prospect, no candidate country would go through the painful process of adopting the tens of thousands of rules and regulations contained in the Acquis Communautaire (the body of EU law).

Membership talks can t help but be long and arduous, if only because adopting the acquis communautaire (the body of EU law) requires that Turkey integrate around 10,000 pages of texts into its legislation.

The candidate states, on the other hand, have, in order to qualify for membership of the EU, to swallow 80 000 pages of rules and regulations known as the 'acquis communautaire'. This is a labour of Sisyphus, since the 'acquis' grows faster than the capacity to absorb it in East European legislation.

The whole of Cyprus joined the EU in May 2004, but the acquis communautaire the body of EU law applies only to areas under direct government control, so it is suspended in those parts administered by Turkish Cypriots.

Instead, enlargement was turned into a dull exercise, in which the ultimate benefits of EU membership became blurred in the minds of ordinary people by the complex process of adopting the acquis communautaire (the body of EU law).

After all, this was how the Schengen Treaty which later became part of the acquis communitaire (the body of EU law) came into being.

Much of the 'acquis' the product of a long and complex history of the EU is hardly relevant to the development of the new democracies.

The Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination still needs to be aligned with the EU acquis as it does not prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Enormous effort was expended by them something not fully understood by current EU members to accomplish their domestic transformations and so adapt themselves to the incredibly extensive acquis of the Union.

Enhanced European capabilities would allow America to leave many instabilities in and around Europe in the care of its allies. Moreover, adding defense to the informal acquis that would be EU members must endorse will reduce pressure on NATO to enlarge.