The deepening of European integration and its widening are two key processes shaping for many years the European Union. In recent years, due to the significant increase in the number of member states and problems with compliance with EU law by the new EU members, there has been a fundamental change in enlargement policy. The main determinant of the change in approach is a much more restrictive approach implemented by the Member States and the European Commission to control the obligations fulfilment by the candidate countries.\nfragment Wprowadzenia