Twenty years of system transformation vs. European integration

Abstract. This article is an attempt to look at the issues of correlation between the system transformation and the European integration from the perspective of agriculture and development of rural areas in Poland. These issues are presented in three parts. In the first part, the integration as an economic and social phenomenon is analyzed as well as the transformation of the economic and political system in Poland is characterized. In the second part, the experience of Polish agriculture in the conditions of a centrally planned economy as well as system transformation is analyzed, whereas in the final part - the influence of the European integration on agriculture during the period of around fifteen years as well as some development trends, which are being observed in present times.