BRUSSELS, Oct 6 (AFP) - Guenter Verheugen, expected to recommend Wednesday that the European Union starts entry negotiations with Turkey, is reaching the end of a long road after overseeing the bloc's biggest-ever expansion.
The EU's indefatigable enlargement commissioner, who leaves his current Brussels job at the end of this month, earned warm praise in the 10 countries which joined the EU in May for his stewardship of the delicate accession talks.
He is set to win the same in Ankara, after saying he sees "no more obstacles on the table" to a clear recommendation on Turkey's EU hopes to be included in a crunch report published by the European Commission on Wednesday.
Born in April 1944, Verheugen rose through the ranks of centre-left politics in Germany and is seen as close to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
After university studies in history and political sciences, via a detour through journalism and federal administration, he joined Schroeder's Social Democratic Party in 1982.
He was elected to the German parliament the following year, rising to become minister for European affairs in 1998 before leaving for Brussels the next year.
Married without children, Verheugen's passion is modern art. The walls of his Brussels office are lined with paintings by artists from the EU's members-to-be.
His life for the past five years has been dominated by preparations for the biggest enlargement in the EU's half-century history, which saw it expand from 15 to 25 countries in May.
In Poland, by far the biggest of the 10 newcomers, the German has earned the nickname "Uncle Guenter" -- a man seen as strict but fair, with an armful of presents waiting to be handed out when Europe's "e-day" finally arrives.
The EU is even now gearing up for its next planned enlargement -- to take in Bulgaria, Romania and possibly Croatia in 2007.
Most people believe that Turkey, even if it wins the right to start EU entry talks at a December EU summit, has no hope of actually joining the European club for at least a decade, possibly much more.
Verheugen, facing a grilling at the European Parliament last week for his new job as EU industry commissioner, angrily dismissed as "biased" critics who accuse him of doing everything to ensure the EU opens talks with Turkey.
"As far as Turkey is concerned, I will say it very clearly that the one who has heard me utter a recommendation is not born yet. I simply said that I had in front of me all the elements necessary to make a recommendation," he said.
"I think that by the middle of next week you could have a completely different view of things."