Convergence process of agricultural land structures in the European Union

Economic development is associated with changes in the use of available production factors, including land. Under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, land resources are no longer only a factor of agricultural production but they have become also a source of public goods. The aim of this article is to identify whether convergence processes in the development of agricultural land structures in the EU-25 take place in connection with the functioning of agriculture in the EU Member States under the CAP. The thesis raises that the CAP does not influence directly the way of development of agricultural land structures in the EU Member States, and the possibility of a parallel application of national agricultural policies causes the persistence of the existing differences. At the same time, the concentration of agricultural land patterned on the developments taking place in the EU-15 can be observed in the new Member States. These relationships are shown using synthetic indicators of the agrarian structure in the 25 Member States of the EU for the period of 2003-2010: average farm size, Gini ratio, the Shannon diversity index (SHDI), and using the analysis of convergence.