State Interventionism in Agricultural Land Turnover in Poland

Abstract

The study discusses the problem of land grabbing and state interventionism in agricultural land transactions in Poland, and presents the effects of active policy implemented by the state on limiting the flow of agricultural land. The research covers the period from the time of country’s accession to the European Union, starting from 2004. Poland introduced restrictions on the purchase of agricultural land for fear of mass land grabbing, and has currently tightened the restrictions on agricultural land purchase by foreigners and by non-owners of a family farm. The analyses concern the number of permits issued for foreigners to turn over agricultural land in Poland, the area of property eventually purchased by foreigners, the right of pre-emption exercised by the National Support Centre for Agriculture (NSCA), and the number of transactions concluded in an open market and in the form of a tender. Based on the collected data and their in-depth analyses, the following phenomena were interpreted: an extensive impact of interventionism exercised by the Polish state on restricting the sale of agricultural land to foreigners is observed, and interventionism of the Polish state affects the suspension of functional changes in rural areas and agricultural land transition to non-agricultural purposes. The research shows that the majority of property turnover by foreigners in Poland required permits issued by the Minister of the Interior Affairs and Administration. Moreover, priority is given to owners of family farms, which results in a reduction of the total number of transactions concerning agricultural land in Poland after introducing changes in legal transactions of agricultural land in 2016.