Quo Vadis CAP. Polish Agriculture After Accession

In March 2007 the European Union celebrated 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome announcement. Its integral part is Common Agricultural Policy. The objectives of the CAP deal with the farmer and the consumer i.e., the society at large. It was widely recognized that increase of productivity lead to diminishing workforce in agriculture and depopulation of rural areas. However, it was not recognized that it would lead to overproduction and environment damage, as well. Over the last fifty years the CAP objectives has significantly shifted from production to environment protection. Until accession the EU the environmental concerns related to agriculture had not played a significant role in any agricultural decision. Generally, the "quality" of natural environment is much higher in the new EU member states than in the old once. Still, agricultural production has a profound effect on the wider environment. Agriculture also affects the basis for its own future through land degradation, salinization, the over-extraction of water and reduction of genetic diversity in crops and livestock. The paradox is that the farmers are paid for keeping natural environment healthy. There is evidence that cost of such policy are in large extent covered by the EU new members. Agriculture is a very capital intensive and very costly industry. A modern farm requires a lot of fixed assets as, agricultural land, different kind of buildings and machinery. It is obvious than price change in any of these factors has impact on cost of production. Polish accession to the European Union has had very strong influence especially on agricultural land prices and stagnation of farm restructuring