Joining in the discussion on changes in the Common Agricultural Policy the author draws attention to the political aspects of food production and its special position in nearly all national economies. Analysing the share of individual production factors in the shaping of agricultural prices the author defends the European Union's right to shape its own agricultural policy and to protect its internal market. He also proves that this policy has a minimal influence on the situation in the so-called Third World countries.

A village constitutes a multifarious social and spatial structure which fulfils various functions. Thus, in order to solve its problems a complex, territorial approach is needed and not only a sector approach dictated by the requirements of agriculture. A multifunctional development of rural areas, based on the principle of balancing the development's three key factors (social, economic and ecological) constitutes the foundation of programmes envisaging actions designed to make the chances of rural communities equal to those enjoyed by the "rest" of the society. The chances for and successes in the demarginalisation of the Polish rural community can all be linked to any actions stimulating the activity of the rural community and many-sided development of rural areas. Such actions can be launched not only owing to the use of the endogenous factors of the local communities but also owing to the use of means available from the EU as well as suggestions and experience stemming from the implementation of various European programmes, including the "rural revival" programme implemented in many European countries as one of the ways leading to the multifunctional development of rural areas.

During the period of transformation of Poland's economic system an essential change occurred in the level of economic equilibrium in agriculture. Consequently, the rules of the market economy implemented in the fragmented fanning sector sharply revealed all the negative effects of the failure to prepare that sector for competition. The situation led to a dramatic income incapacity of the majority of farms. In addition, a considerable number of farms was eliminated from the market. The data on the incomes of farms in 2004 indicate that the greater part of farms failed to achieve the level of income per head equal to remuneration received by the average full-time worker. A comparison of the relation of agricultural net income expressed as a payment received by a person doing a full-time work on a farm with the average net pay in the national economy in 2004 shows that 16 ESU constituted the limit for farms providing pay for work at parity level. The hopes for an improvement in the economic situation of Polish farmers were and are connected with Poland's integration with the European Union and assistance programmes offered within the Common Agricultural Policy. However, the actual effects of that assistance will largely depend on the ability of the farms to absorb the available means. The data from FADN covering the last few years suggest that the economic condition of farms producing goods for the market which operate in the European Union depends not only on the economic effectiveness of production but also on their ability to absorb means offered them owing to the mechanisms of the Common Agricultural Policy. In the programming and implementation of a rational agricultural policy it is necessary to precisely define the beneficiaries of various assistance programmes and this creates an urgent need to formulate a precise definition of a farm.

Membership of the European Union has a many-sided influence on the operation of the agricultural sector and rural community in Poland. The most significant changes stem from inclusion in the uniform market and subordination to the common agricultural policy. Owing to the substantial and not fully utilised competitive potential of Polish agriculture the reforms implemented so far, which separate support for agricultural incomes from decisions concerning production, have strengthened the sector's position on the common market. Although the intervention system applied within the common organisation of markets has not proved effective in all the segments its general assessment is positive. Consecutive reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy are not only a chance for its adjustment to the specific expectations of Poland but also a challenge - it is necessary to constantly improve effectiveness in promoting Polish goals in this process.

After two editions of the LEADER programme Portugal is assessed as a country which has implemented that EU initiative in an exemplary manner. During the programme's second edition the network of local activity groups covered the entire territory of Portugal. The article describes the effects of implementation of programmes adopted for 1991-1993 and 1994-1999 in terms of the number, types, value and material results of the launched projects, as well as in terms of the pro-grammes' social and political achievements (such as the emergence of a network of non-governmental organisations and decentralization of the state). The article also presents the role of the implemented programmes in the country's rural development.

The paper contains a review of literature on the subject, which indicates that before 2004 farms possessing relatively large resources of production factors and conducting particularly lively agricultural activity accounted for about 21% of all Polish farms. Especially successful were farms possessing 20 ha-200 ha of arable land, which were owned by natural persons. The share of such farms in the overall number of farms operating in Poland had been growing fast and it reached 6% in 2002. In 2004 the position of Polish farms became stronger owing to an essential growth in their incomes. However, there are signs indicating that the incomes of farms in the coming years will prove lower than in the exceptionally good year 2004. Nonetheless, these incomes will be increasing slowly because the amounts of direct payments will be growing in consecutive years. These facts make it possible to predict that the favourable structural changes inaugurated in Polish agriculture before 2004 will continue to take place also in the coming years.

The rate of development of rural areas is not satisfactory both in the light of the existing needs and of the expectations of the rural population. It is not possible to make up fast for delays in Poland's civilisational development in relation to the advanced EU countries. This process takes time and requires patience and respect for the rule that "tough" economic and infrastructure parameters are not the only determinants of the chances of individual communes. Another important determinant is "social capital." The success of efforts to release the potential represented by local communities depends on many factors, including,a well functioning self-government, the emergence of rural leaders, an improvement in the general level of education, increased confidence and readiness to co-operate, etc. Local development and its prospects should be strictly associated with such programmes as LEADER and "Rival of Rural Areas". This is the reason why greater attention should be given in the strategy for 2007-2013 to the elements which contribute to the development of social capital of the rural areas.

The Office for Rural Programmes of the Co-operation Fund started preparations - within the Agrolinia Programme, to actively engage the Polish rural community in the LEADER+ Programme as early as in 2002 being guided by the conviction that integration with the European Union would take place in 2004 and that Poland would inevitably become covered by that initiative, in addition to many other actions. Agrolinia's team began its work from the preparation of a cadre of trainers who were to start implementing the Leader Programme immediately after Poland's accession to EU. Efforts were also launched to integrate circles and persons that had a similar statutory goal: sustainable development of rural areas. In this way a Forum for the Stimulation of Activity in Rural Areas (FAOW) was established as the first national platform for organizations acting in favour of the rural community. The first action launched by Agrolinia in co-operation with FAOW was the selection of candidates for trainers and organization of instruction for this group of persons. Efforts undertaken by various government agencies, in particular by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the formulation of the Sector Operation Programme, including the project Restructuring and Modernisation of the Food Sector and Development of Rural Areas, made it possible to implement a LEADE R + Pilot Programme. As from the end of September 2004 information meetings were being organized within actions undertaken by Agrolinia, which dealt with the LEADER+ Pilot Program-me. These meetings, conducted by trainers, were attended by representatives of local governments, non-governmental organisations acting in favour of the development of rural areas and representati ves of the business sector. Information meetings were organised also for co-operative banks and representatives of the local media. A film dealing with opportunities and chances offered by the LEADER programme was produced and distributed in 2,000 copies. An Internet page has been created, which functions as a forum for discussions of partner groups. The Agrolinia Programme, in close co-operation with FAOW, organized training courses for animators of local partnerships. It also was the initiator and sponsor of study trips for animators of partner groups, which served the purpose of establishing contacts with partners from the old 15 EU countries experienced in the implementation of the LEADER type programmes. Work carried out by Agrolinia's team with the aim of introducing the LEADER programme in Poland was crowned in 2005 with the first national meeting of the LEADER initiatives and groups. This meeting was held during a conference organized under the slogan LEADER Programme for the Future of Polish Rural Community in mid-November. The Agrolinia Programme will continue to be active in supporting in every way initiatives launched by rural communities in order to make them dynamically seize the chance for sustainable development of rural areas offered by the LEADER Programme.

The article presents an analysis of the Polish rural community's interest in assistance available from the European Union since the day of Poland's accession to EU structures. The analysis starts from an illustration of the first year of the direct payments campaign and the campaign's second edition in 2005. This part of the analysis dealing with the most popular assistance instrument is accompanied by a description of selected ventures available to the rural community that are implemented within the Plan for the Development of Rural Areas and the Sector Operation Programme "Restructuring and Modernisation of the Food Sector and Development of Rural Areas" Interest in EU assistance displayed in individual regions differs both in terms of the number of applicants and type of the offered support. The greater than average interest in EU assistance on the part of Polish farmers has a largely rational basis. Farmers know their needs and the programmes that can be helpful to them. The latest data indicate that Polish farmers want to fully utilize the chances offered them.

The article deals with the operation of co-operatives in the food and agricultural sector in the conditions of ongoing globalisation and integration. The authors discuss the processes of globalisation, its concepts, characteristic features and results and they, next, concentrate their attention on the thesis that integration in the food and agricultural sector (in the form of co-operatives) is crucial for its protection against the discriminating market mechanism (of world prices) which limits the food self-sufficiency and profitability at the national level. The article ends in conclusions and suggestions for the Polish co-operative sector. The authors prove that co-operatives create a chance for a greater effectiveness of the allocation mechanism, which may be advantageous to both the producers of agricultural goods (in the form of higher purchasing prices) and intermediaries and processing firms (chances to minimize transaction costs).

The demand for energy is a direct result of economic development hence a further considerable growth in the consumption of energy is forecast to take place in the next several years. In all the examined scenarios it is predicted that after 2020 the share of conventional fuels - oil, natural gas and coal, will be diminishing in step with the depletion of their deposits and accompanying growth in energy prices. These raw materials will be replaced with the sources of renewable energy. The most important source of renewable energy in Poland is bio-mass, which can be used for the purpose of production of energy in the process of direct incineration (timber, straw, sludge), of its transformation into liquid fuels (rape-seed oil esters, alcohol) or gaseous fuels (e.g. agricultural bio-gas, bio-gas from sewage treatment plants, gas obtained from refuse heaps). The wide-scale use of bio-mass for the purpose of production of energy is likely to stimulate the development of rural areas and agriculture. The necessity to fulfil obligations stemming from the four EU Directives (2001/77/EC, 2003/ 30/EC, 2003/54/EC, 2003/96/EC) by the year 2010 may result in the demand for agricultural raw materials obtained from plantations covering the area of approximately a million hectares of arable land. In 2020 this demand is likely to at least double. This creates a chance not only for additional incomes from agricultural production but also for the creation of new jobs aid for a less polluted environment.

The main aim of the article is to determine how often Polish farms resort in their operation to credits and leasing. Generally, the degree to which these forms of financing are used is not high, especially in the case of leasing. It should be noted, however, that an improvement has occurred in this respect as evidenced by an increase in the credit indebtedness of farms recorded between 1996 and 2002. Moreover, polarization of farms is observable as far as the use of credits is concerned. On one hand, the use of credits has become less frequent in smaller farms and, on the other hand, the number of entities drawing large credits has increased. The surveyed respondents favourably assess the effects of the use of preferential credits in their farms. It can be stated that the low popularity of leasing among Polish farmers may be attributable to the economic downturn in agriculture and the farmers' insufficient knowledge about the possibilities of using this form of financing. The results of the conducted surveys also suggest that the farms which use credits and leasing have a relatively well defined organizational-demographic profiles. This creates a chance for banks and leasing firms to more selectively prepare proposals addressed to clients from the agricultural sector.

One of the major sources of the natural environment's contamination in Poland is production carried out by the food industry. The process of production of food articles, during which various raw materials, auxiliary materials and technologies are used, leads also to the creation of pollutants.
It becomes important therefore to define the degree of involvement of the food industry's entities in pro-ecological activities. Hence, the authors of the paper have undertaken an attempt at analysing the scope and structure of investment outlays on environmental protection by the food sector in Poland and selected countries of the European Union.
In recent years Poland and Sweden have been characterised by diminishing outlays on environmental protection, whereas in the Czech Republic pro-ecological expenditures have risen. However, in per capita terms the largest amounts were allocated to environmental protection by Swedish enterprises - EUR 2.10 yearly, and the smallest amounts were allocated by Polish enterprises - less than EUR 0.50 yearly. The annual index for Czech enterprises was EUR 1.20. In 2000-2002 Poland was characterised by the lowest share of integrated investments (approximately 30%). The structure of investment outlays was the most favourable in Sweden where investments in the prevention of pollution accounted for nearly a half of all environmental investments. An analysis of the directions of investment efforts suggests that outlays on the protection of air and climate had a dominating share in the overall environmental investments only in Sweden. hi the remaining countries outlays on waste water disposal and protection of waters had a dominating share in the total environmental investments.

Since the end of the Second World War individual farmers in Poland have never been covered by the state work protection system. The results of surveys conducted among farmers indicate that they would not be ready to accept such a system. Actions designed to prevent accidents during work on family farms have been entrusted to the Farmers' Social Insurance Fund (KRUS). In accordance with the law on the social insurance of farmers of December 20, 1990 (Journal of Laws No. 7 of 1998, item 27, which includes the introduced amendments) KRUS carries out in an organized and systematic manner prophylactic activities that cover mainly the popularisation among the insured of knowledge about hazards to health and life encountered during work in agriculture, and information about the work safety principles. Efforts to prevent accidents yield tangible results. In 1993-2005 the number of annually reported accidents at work fell more than two times despite the fact that the number of farmers insured by KRUS has been growing steadily in recent years. Although the num-ber of accidents during work in agriculture has been diminishing steadily the level of work safety and hygiene in individually run farms is far from satisfactory. The share of individual farming in the total number of accidents reaches 25% and fatal accident account for a third of all accidents at work. Such a large number of accidents has been recorded in the case of farmers insured by KRUS and they account for approximately 12% of all the working people. Thus, the frequency of accidents among farmers is still more than two times greater than in other sectors of the national economy.

The article presents the problem of spatial differentiation of Poland at the regional level on the basis of selected and available statistical data. Special attention is drawn to the phenomenon of differentiation and its two forms: diversification and disparity. The spatial effect of scale has been introduced to present the role of individual regions and the significance of distribution and homogeneity (or heterogeneity) of the population. The notion "region" is explained, its types are described as well as the essence of spatial order is presented. By using a set of selected criteria and applying the zero unitarisation method the author indicates problem regions as well as provinces (voivodeships) possessing the best conditions.

The system of milk quotas was introduced in 1984 to curb the overproduction of milk on the EU market. Both before and after the introduction of quotas the prices of milk in the analysed countries kept growing until 1989. The annual growth in prices was more dynamic in the 1974-1983 period than in the 1984-1989 period. Up to 1984 growth in milk prices was highly correlated with the increasing target price of milk and with the rising costs of production (mainly the costs of feed concentrates). After 1984 milk prices continued to grow despite the freezing of the rise in the target price (in fact this price was lowered), fast decline in the cost of the means production (in particular concentrated feeds and energy) and dynamic growth in intervention reserves. Taking into consideration the fall in the world prices in 1984-1989 it can be concluded that the system of milk quotas introduced in 1984 helped maintain the rise in milk prices until 1989 and that it also prevented a drastic slump in these prices after the reform of the intervention system conducted in 1989 and after Mc Sharry's reform conducted in 1992.

The paper presents some elements of the development of agriculture in Podlaskie voivodeship and tendencies that allow to revise the opinions about the general development processes in this region, which is traditionally considered to be backward and lacking any prospects for development, and to be characterized by all the phenomena typical for the so called problem areas. It has been established that in the communes characterised by a high degree of marginalisation of agricultural production and the existence of vast areas of grassland there operate modern farms which achieve very satisfactory production and economic results. At the same time, in the communes where there exist conditions conducive to the development of conventional, intensive agriculture farms can operate on the basis of the natural circulation of resources and achieve comparable results.

Despite the observable progress the degree of development of infrastructure in the rural areas of Poland is still very low, especially in comparison with the rural areas of the European Union. Problems with the development of rural infrastructure are made more difficult by immense spatial differences between individual regions, voivodeships and communes and within these administrative units, as well as by disharmony between the levels of development of individual systems of infra-structure in individual localities. The latter relates mainly to the water supply system and the sewage system, sewage treatment facilities included. This disharmony has various negative effects for the standard of living, the condition of the natural environment and possibilities of developing agricultural and non-agricultural functions of rural areas. The main subject of this article is the disproportion between the degree of development of the water supply system and the sewage system. The author starts her considerations on the subject from an analysis of changes in the development of these two systems in the rural areas, which takes into account growth in the length of the water supply network and the sewage network, the number of individual types of connections to each of these networks, and the degree of satisfaction of the rural population's needs regarding the supply of fresh water and the disposal of waste water, expressed as a percentage of villages possessing water supply and sewage systems. The conducted analysis indicates that the absolute difference in the number of connections to the water supply system and to the sewage system in the rural areas has been increasing. At present the quantity of waste water collected owing to the sewage system accounts for not more than 30% of water supplied to the rural households (in 1996 this index was 18%). Despite a radical slow-down in the development of the water supply network, which has become quite dense, and an increasing annual rate of development of the sewage network, the number of connections to the water supply network is growing faster yet than that of connections to the sewage network. However, it is an optimistic sign that the difference in the average annual rate of development of the two networks has been diminishing, which may herald a change of the to-date trend and gradual elimination of the existing disproportion.

Poland is the largest producer of potatoes in the European Union and the sixth largest producers of potatoes in the world. About 60% of potatoes gathered in Poland are used by farms. Production of potatoes destined for the market accounts for approximately 27% of the total domestic production of that vegetable and it is used in equal parts for the purposes of consumption and the needs of the potato processing industry. Consumption has been recently showing a downward trend, which is attributable to the diminishing consumption of non-processed potatoes since the consumption of processed potato products is on the rise. The changing needs of consumers create opportunities for a wider application of starch and its derivatives. The demand for products supplied by the potato sector is stimulated by a wide of range of possible applications in more than 50 branches of the processing industry and mainly in the food and confectionery industries, in the industry producing food concentrates, in the meat industry as well as in the industries producing fodders and pharmaceuticals, in the paper, chemical and textile industries. The mechanisms of the Common Agricultural Policy, which regulate the market of potato starch, have intensified competition in the sector. It should be also noted that in global terms that rivalry has a geographical dimension - the US market and the Asian markets, and that potato starch is losing competition to grain starch.