Twenty years of EU accession: learning lessons from Central and Eastern European agriculture and rural areas
Abstract Twenty years have passed since the first eastern enlargements of the European Union (EU). This paper assesses the impacts of EU accession on agriculture and rural regions of Central and Eastern European countries and identifies the reasons behind differences in country performance. Results...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Agricultural and Food Economics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-025-00346-w |
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| _version_ | 1832586149491638272 |
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| author | Attila Jambor Matthew Gorton |
| author_facet | Attila Jambor Matthew Gorton |
| author_sort | Attila Jambor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Twenty years have passed since the first eastern enlargements of the European Union (EU). This paper assesses the impacts of EU accession on agriculture and rural regions of Central and Eastern European countries and identifies the reasons behind differences in country performance. Results suggest that EU accession brought modest convergence with established Member States. However, countries capitalised on the opportunities given by EU membership to differing extents. Specifically, the Baltic countries and Poland performed best post-accession, while Croatia, Slovenia, and Hungary witnessed much slower rates of convergence. The findings are consistent with the notion of convergence clubs, with persistent variations in catch up rates between groups of states. To explain membership of lower- and higher-speed convergence clubs, the paper identifies four sets of factors, namely initial conditions, pre-accession policy frameworks and actions, administrative preparedness, and post-accession policies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-af6383e2781943b2984f5ebca1e302df |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2193-7532 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agricultural and Food Economics |
| spelling | doaj-art-af6383e2781943b2984f5ebca1e302df2025-01-26T12:10:24ZengSpringerOpenAgricultural and Food Economics2193-75322025-01-0113111710.1186/s40100-025-00346-wTwenty years of EU accession: learning lessons from Central and Eastern European agriculture and rural areasAttila Jambor0Matthew Gorton1Head of Institute of Sustainable Development, Corvinus University of BudapestHead of Institute of Sustainable Development, Corvinus University of BudapestAbstract Twenty years have passed since the first eastern enlargements of the European Union (EU). This paper assesses the impacts of EU accession on agriculture and rural regions of Central and Eastern European countries and identifies the reasons behind differences in country performance. Results suggest that EU accession brought modest convergence with established Member States. However, countries capitalised on the opportunities given by EU membership to differing extents. Specifically, the Baltic countries and Poland performed best post-accession, while Croatia, Slovenia, and Hungary witnessed much slower rates of convergence. The findings are consistent with the notion of convergence clubs, with persistent variations in catch up rates between groups of states. To explain membership of lower- and higher-speed convergence clubs, the paper identifies four sets of factors, namely initial conditions, pre-accession policy frameworks and actions, administrative preparedness, and post-accession policies.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-025-00346-wAgricultureCentral and Eastern EuropeEuropean UnionRural developmentConvergence theory |
| spellingShingle | Attila Jambor Matthew Gorton Twenty years of EU accession: learning lessons from Central and Eastern European agriculture and rural areas Agricultural and Food Economics Agriculture Central and Eastern Europe European Union Rural development Convergence theory |
| title | Twenty years of EU accession: learning lessons from Central and Eastern European agriculture and rural areas |
| title_full | Twenty years of EU accession: learning lessons from Central and Eastern European agriculture and rural areas |
| title_fullStr | Twenty years of EU accession: learning lessons from Central and Eastern European agriculture and rural areas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Twenty years of EU accession: learning lessons from Central and Eastern European agriculture and rural areas |
| title_short | Twenty years of EU accession: learning lessons from Central and Eastern European agriculture and rural areas |
| title_sort | twenty years of eu accession learning lessons from central and eastern european agriculture and rural areas |
| topic | Agriculture Central and Eastern Europe European Union Rural development Convergence theory |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-025-00346-w |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT attilajambor twentyyearsofeuaccessionlearninglessonsfromcentralandeasterneuropeanagricultureandruralareas AT matthewgorton twentyyearsofeuaccessionlearninglessonsfromcentralandeasterneuropeanagricultureandruralareas |