Sentence:  Despite the clarity with which this principle has been reiterated, most applicants believe that their own circumstances are unique and deserve an equality of respect, even when this might challenge a principle of at least part of the <WSD>acquis</WSD>. The UK, for example, believed that its wider trading links merited special consideration. The realisation that such consideration would not be forthcoming was particularly humiliating, given that the UK had been invited to participate in forming the <WSD>acquis</WSD> in 1955–57. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The accumulated legislation, legal acts, and court decisions which constitute the total body of European Union law.