Prospective conflicts deriving from the changes in agricultural structure in Northern Hungary after the country’s EU accession

Fehér, Alajos

In Hungary the formation of regional economies has been accompanied by an increase in inequalities between the regions. The Northern Hungarian macro-region is one of the losers in this process. According to official statistics, the role of agriculture and forestry has declined within the regional economies. The author’s research results, however, draw attention to the fact that in rural communities or rural micro-regions, the role of agriculture is actually much greater than indicated by statistical averages. New methods developed to analyse agricultural structures allow the initial situation to be recorded, so that the effects of structure improvement measures implemented after EU accession can be reliably investigated. These methods can be applied not only in Northern Hungary, but also in any other macro-region. In the years to come considerable changes can be expected in agricultural structures, which will almost certainly increase the conflicts in the Northern Hungary macro-region, particularly due to the reduction in agricultural job opportunities. The handling of these conflicts will have to be tackled in the framework of the National Development Plan and the National Rural Development Plan.

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