The burden of complying with EU regulations may actually slow the development of the economies of eastern Europe accession states, a conference heard yesterday.

With many former Soviet-bloc countries already in the grip of a strong bureaucracy, there was a danger of overregulation, said Mr Jack Golden, human resources director of CRH, the Irish building materials group, which has operations in Poland. He was speaking to a business forum for new EU states, organised by Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

One result of this was that it was difficult for foreign firms to gain approval for land acquisition.

There was also occasional confusion in the levying of corporation tax, while social welfare costs in the former Soviet-bloc tended to be high compared to the Republic, said Mr Golden.

Infrastructure deficits also posed a challenge - although these were not entirely unfamiliar to Irish investors, he said.

However, once all these difficulties were surmounted, countries such as Poland were "a great place to do business", said Mr Golden.

"You have to take the long term view and to be aware of the risks involved. You have to plan to minimise those risks," he said.

Paying close attention to detail increased chances of success, according to Mr Golden.