Turkey began EU accession negotiations in 2005, but the process has been extremely slow.
However, it signed an EU accession treaty in April 2005 and joined in January 2007.
The country's refusal to recognise Kosovo was one of the key barriers to any prospects of EU accession.
Turkey's EU accession negotiations remain stalled and that position is unlikely to change while Cyprus is running EU business, analysts say.
Polish officials still have fresh memories of their country's EU accession, when they were bossed around and told to shape up.
Estonia enjoyed an investment boom following EU accession, but in 2008 its economy was badly hit by the global financial crisis.
But he seems committed to Turkey's EU accession process, even to pursuing liberalising reforms in Turkey if its EU hopes are dashed.
Olli Rehn, the EU's current enlargement chief, likens the EU accession process to a journey that matters as much as the destination.
In 2004, the-then Labour government allowed free migration to the UK for workers from EU accession states including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
British Lib Dem MEP Sarah Ludford drew attention to a briefing given to UK MEPs stating that the UK government was "fully committed" to EU accession to ECHR.
Some might say Turkey's EU accession talks are already frozen.
One reason is that Serbia's EU accession path has slowed.
ECONOMIST: Past and present intertwine in Serbia in unexpected ways
The new EU members have not only undergone comprehensive legal and political reforms as part of the EU accession process, they are physically close to fully developed Western markets.
Less stridently, Mrs Merkel says the same: she notes that she opposed opening EU accession talks with Turkey, but did not try to stop them when she came to office.
In a separate report the Commission also recommended opening talks with Kosovo on reaching a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU - a key step towards full EU accession negotiations.
If Turkey does clip Mr Denktash's wings, it will be out of fear that the country's timetable for starting EU accession talks could be derailed if the Cyprus issue remains unresolved.
Supporters of EU accession say it would bring EU law into line with the legal systems of member states, and a draft agreement on EU accession to the ECHR was reached during 2011.
Spyros Economides, an academic at the London School of Economics, says that no pressure has been put on Greece to let Macedonia begin EU accession talks, and he does not expect any now.
One of the great ironies of the Sanader years is that the changes that he helped oversee and which were part of the EU accession process, were to lead to his downfall and imprisonment.
Social inclusion sharpens the MDG framework in the context of EU pre-accession countries such as BiH.
"Enlargement fatigue (in the EU) and accession fatigue (in aspirant countries) could seriously threaten the future of the enlargement agenda, " the peers said.
Other issues to be dealt with at the summit include the future of the Schengen agreement on the free movement of EU citizens, and the signing of an accession treaty between the EU and Croatia, allowing the ex-Yugoslav country to join the union in 2013.
Speaking about Turkish accession, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele told the European Parliament that there were "frustrations... on both sides".
And the EU will sign the Accession Treaty with Croatia next month.
Indeed, it raised last-minute objections of its own on Monday, insisting on clarification of a clause in the draft negotiating framework that says Ankara may not block the accession of EU states to international organisations and treaties.
The EU still thinks Turkey has further to go before formal accession negotiations can start, but even those member states least friendly to the Turks have been making conciliatory noises: on October 10th, the foreign minister of Greece, Turkey's traditional adversary, said he saw no reason why the EU should not set a date for accession talks with Turkey at its December summit in Copenhagen.
This year it is rewarded with a recommendation that the EU set a date for accession talks to begin.
It would also have eased Turkey's accession to the EU. But that is just what Turkey's detractors inside the EU do not want.
Mr Gruevski said his priorities would be accession to the EU and Nato, fighting corruption and organised crime, boosting the economy and lowering unemployment.
Britain earns credit with America by working to keep hopes of Turkish accession to the EU alive, or trying (with France) to secure tougher-than-expected European sanctions on Iran.
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