How big is the problem of Polish agriculture?

The enduring size and semi-subsistence character of Poland's agricultural sector continue to be a cause of concern even as the country prepares to enter the EU later this year. Although underpinned by a variety of historical and social forces, the survival of such activity from World War II into the twenty-first century has been largely the result of extensive transfer payments. Reducing this fiscal burden, stimulating agricultural restructuring and promoting rural development in order to spread the benefits of transformation more widely might be expected to be high on both the EU and Polish policy agendas. However, efforts to date in this area, whether financed from domestic or international sources, have certainly not been successful and the aptness of the stimulus provided by the final terms of membership agreed in Copenhagen in December 2002 might be questioned. This article seeks to identify the key components of Poland's agricultural restructuring and rural development problem and to address the issues raised by the country's forthcoming accession to the European Union.