The 2004, 2007, and 2013 enlargement of the EU opened up free trade opportunities, increasing trade flows and demand for products of agriculture. On the one hand, the integration processes have intensified competition between countries, and on the other hand, they have created new opportunities for them. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of European integration on the competitiveness of the agricultural sector in countries that acceded to the EU in or after 2004. The assessment of the competitiveness of the agricultural sector was made using the following indicators: land and labour productivity in agriculture, importance of the agricultural sector in the economy of the EU countries, agricultural trade balance, importance of agricultural export in total export of the EU countries, trade coverage ratio, Grubel–Lloyd intra-industry specialization indicator, and Balassa comparative advantage indicator. The analysis was carried out from 2004 to 2020 with the Eurostat statistical database. The outcome of surveys implies that a gap still exists between the old and the new member states of the European Union (EU) in the efficient utilisation of their production factors, despite an increased dynamics of growth in labour productivity compared with the old member states, the so-called EU-15. The overall competitive position of all EU-13 countries in agricultural trade on the common EU market has improved; however, individual analysis reveals disparities between respective member states. In 2020, net exporters with comparative advantage were Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Croatia, and net importers with comparative disadvantage included Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Estonia, and Malta. Latvia and Romania improved their competitive position in agricultural trade.

This article aims to description food security and its measurement method and analyse the agricultural production status and food self-sufficiency in 2010–2020. Currently, Poland in 2020 ranks 59th globally and fifth in the European Union in terms of utilised agricultural areas. Considering the population of agricultural workers, Poland are the first in the European Union. Results of studies concerning the production and consumption of basic agricultural raw materials indicate that Poland is a country mostly featuring a food production surplus. From 2010 to 2020, its level of self-sufficiency to the extent of basic cereals was variable; however, grain production surplus was recorded in the analysed period. Similar observations were made for the production of potatoes and vegetables. Only in some years did fruit production show a deficit or was at the domestic consumption level. As regards milk and eggs, Poland was self-sufficient in the whole analysed period, and the dynamics of increase in the surplus of milk and eggs was proportional to the 2010 year. From 2010 to 2020, Poland recorded a high surplus of poultry meat and beef that increased every year using a dynamic approach. The level of self-sufficiency to the extent of pork supplies was highly varied. From 2010 to 2015, a deficit occurred that decreased year on year, and from 2018 to 2020, it reached a surplus of 71 000, 62 000 and 40 000 tonnes, respectively. Surveys regarding Poland’s balance of foreign trade in agri-food products did not confirm food self-sufficiency in 2010; however, from 2015 to 2020, the balance was positive and was growing throughout the survey period, which means that Poland exported more agri-food products than it imported. Many households representing the part of the society with the poorest income declare they are not able to eat red meat or poultry every other day. A systematic reduction in the calorific value of food consumed in Polen is also puzzling as lower than the reference (2350 kcal), and in 2019 it reached a distressing daily intake value of 1999 kcal per capita.

The need to contain climate change and improve energy security has increased the interest in agricultural biomass as a renewable energy source (RES). Given the complexity of the issue of energy production and its environmental impact, the main objective of this study was to assess the significance and potential of the agriculture of the European Union Member States in terms of the capability of producing renewable energy. Using the multi-criteria TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method, we designed a synthetic measure based on several diagnostic characteristics for 2010–2021, obtaining a ranking for EU countries reflecting their agriculture’s RES potential. The research showed that the agricultural sectors with the highest potential for renewable energy production were in the Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, and Hungary during the study period. Bulgaria, Denmark, and Spain joined this group in 2021. A comprehensive assessment was conducted using the TOPSIS method to identify the leaders and areas in need of support in leveraging the potential of agriculture for energy in the EU.

Purpose – This paper presents the results of an assessment of the aggregated competitiveness of the agricultural sector in the EU member states. The authors sought answers to the following questions: What is the general level of competitiveness of the agricultural sector in the European Union? Which countries are leaders in the EU and which are outsiders in this area? Research method – The analyses were based on a set of intentionally selected multi-criteria indicators and taxonomic methods. An aggregated Competitiveness Index (CI) was designed, which allowed evaluating and classifying EU countries into categories in terms of the studied phenomenon. The analysis draws upon data derived from the World Bank’s and Eurostat statistical databases, and the assessment covered two years – 2004 and 2018. Results – The mean CI in 2018 for all the evaluated countries was 0.1701, while in the base year it was 0.1942, which means that in the analysed years the general competitiveness level of agricultural sectors in the EU member states declined. Considering the possible range of CI (0.1), this level was very low in both analysed years. The general competitiveness level fell due to: the reduced use of fertilisers, decrease in the relative export orientation, smaller area of arable land and a decline in employment in agriculture. Originality/value/implications/recommendations – The analysis of the agricultural sector presented in this paper, using a comprehensive index, is the approach that has not been previously applied, taking into account the selection of the components of a comprehensive index, which was made on the basis of the literature studies. The proposed index allowed classifying the countries of the European Union according to both their resources and performance in production and trade in the agricultural sector and comparing the position they occupied in 2004 and in 2018.