Multifunctionality of agriculture and rural areas in the uniting Europe

摘要

The purpose of the paper is to present role and functions presently performed by agriculture and rural areas. For a dozen or so years in the scientific literature one has been discussing mainly multifunctionality of rural areas, understanding it as economic diversification of countryside, namely increase in employment opportunity in off-agricultural activity in rural areas. On the contrary, multifunctionality of agriculture as a socio-economic problem is an issue hardly recognized and insufficiently considered in scientific studies. As far as production (market) functions of agriculture are well known to all of us, off-market functions (non-commodities outputs of agriculture) constitute a difficulty, as far as their identification and classification is concerned, taking into account non-market effects of agriculture in economic, social, cultural and natural sphere. However, so that off-market functions can be performed, the agriculture must exist and act in the sphere of production activity. This phenomenon is defined as jointness of these two types of functions. Thus, perception and appreciation of multifunctionality of agriculture induces to protect and support agriculture under the European Unions Common Agricultural Policy, as a special sector of the economy.