POLAND RECAST. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT DURING A PERIOD OF THE TRANSFORMATION AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION. AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

An attempt of this article is to review the system transformation and the European integration in Poland and their impact on agriculture and rural development. In the first part, the transformation of the economic and political system is briefed from a perspective of turbulent Polish history during last 100 years. It is pointed out that a deep recast, enforced since 1989, replaced the “socialist” regime as emerged in late 1940s and covered the very nature of the political system and the national economy. Then, the author deals with the performance of Polish agriculture under the framework of “socialist” Centrally Planned Economy. The unique feature of Polish agriculture is explained - maintaining a dominant position of the peasant sector in a (hostile) collectivized environment of the national economy. From such a context, the system transformation is described. In a concluding part, the performance of agriculture is outlined in the context of the EU association and the membership. The CAP measures and the support from the EU budget for agriculture and rural development is outlined. It is depicted that, Polish agriculture can successfully compete on the inner EU market as is demonstrated by the position of the leading net-exporter of the food in the region. Some conclusions are formulated and development trends are briefed, covering both advantages and shortages of the undergoing processes.