CHANGES IN POLISH AGRICULTURE AFTER THE ACCESSION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

There have been many problems regarding Polish agriculture before the accession to the European Union. The following main weaknesses were identified: fragmentation of farms, the use of obsolete methods for cultivation and breeding, low profitability of agricultural holdings, lack of additional functions in rural areas (processing, tourism, other services), relatively high unemployment (registered and hidden) or environmental problems. Many financial instruments have been used since 2004, some of which are worth mentioning, namely: direct payments, structural benefits, promotional investment loans for farmers, agri-environment programme subsidies, funds provided under the rural development programme. The EU accession resulted in the changes to the countryside, including: enlargement of average farm area, higher average income for farmers, extension of the area under integrated farm management, increase in the number of organic farms or fixed assets in agriculture. The main goal of the paper is to analyse the changes in Polish agriculture after joining the EU (in general and for the regions). A database was generated in line with Polish Central Statistical Office (GUS) data. The correlation method and least squares method have been used in the course of the examination.