Turkish officials object to the exceptional conditions placed in advance on the terms of their eventual membership - including the demand by current EU states to be allowed to place permanent restrictions on the movement of Turks to work elsewhere in Europe.

BBC: Turkey's EU bid runs into trouble

Current rules put in place by the Clinton administration allow federal money for stem-cell research using embryos provided the work is funded by private money and the embryos come from fertility clinics and would otherwise be discarded.

CNN: Lott says he's opposed to federal funding of stem-cell research