MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS OF ROMANIA'S AGRICULTURAL SECTOR WITHIN EU27 - COMPARISONS POST-ACCESSION

The paper aims to present the evolution of main sectoral indicators of Romania's agriculture in the context of European Union enlarged to 27 countries. There have been analysed the sizes and trends of the basic agricultural resources including land, livestock and labour force, as well as the synthetic indicators related to the output. The research was based on the statistical data provided by Eurostat. The results emphasize that Romania ranks among the forefront states regarding the utilized agricultural area, as well as having the largest number of employees in the primary sector. The share of Romania's primary sector in the gross value added, although four time greater than the EU average, had a downward trend, recording a minimum of 6.4% in 2013. Romania's agricultural trade balance gathered a deficit of - 8 billion Euros in the post-accession period; however, a net export performance was merely achieved in 2013. In conclusion, Romania's agricultural labour productivity was placed in a modest position by the gaps comparing to the majority of member states, that drew attention to the necessary improvements of the performances and to narrowing the disparities.