DOI: n/a
Abstract
Developmental processes in the agri-food sector depend mainly on changes occurring on the market. The State, however, is often an active participant. By defining the strategies of the transformation of various sectors of the economy, using direct and indirect policy instruments, it significantly affects the sphere of production, distribution, allocation, exchange, and consumption. It stimulates market entities to undertake specific behaviour and decisions. Poland’s membership in the European Union has materially altered the functioning conditions of food economics. In 2004-2011 agriculture, the food industry and rural areas obtained financial support under CAP amounting to nearly EUR 30 billion. This study aims at systematising the long-term objectives of agricultural policy (with particular attention given to the food industry), assessing their cohesion, and discussing the principal effects of CAP and changes in the processing sector over the last decade. The final section of the study features a presentation of the greatest challenges to the food industry in the 2020 perspective.