Rozszerzenie Unii Europejskiej po 2007 r. – analiza uwarunkowań procesu

Abstract

The article, a result of the research conducted within the first part of the project financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education – concerns the current process of the EU enlargement and its determinants. The author conducts an in-depth analysis of the factors that can affect the process, either positively or negatively, on the three following levels: the European Union (i.e. the EU institutions, the enlargement policy and its implementation), the Member States and the candidate countries. He wishes to verify the hypothesis that although the situation in the candidate countries is crucial for the continuation of the EU enlargement, determinants in the EU and the Member States may be equally important, if not decisive. The main research method is the decision analysis. However, the author uses also a qualitative method, making interviews with the representatives of the EU institutions as well as the Ministries of Foreign and/or European Affairs, think tanks and universities in candidate countries.