The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the determinants that have led to the establishment of the Office of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the analysis of the range of his responsibilities regarding institutional disputes over power between the Council, the High Representative and the EU Commission, and between the President of the European Council and the High Representative, as well as between the presidency and the High Representative. These considerations make it possible to present the conclusions on the theoretical and practical opportunities for the High Representative to act both internally, that is in Brussels, and externally, on the international arena.
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.
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