Differentiation Of Food Prices Between European Union Countries

Poland’s accession to the European Union and the related opening of the Polish economy increased its dependence on global and regional phenomena. Domestic prices of food products began to be influenced by, among others, prices on external markets, mainly on the EU market. Phenomena characteristic of economic integration also occurred in other “new” Member States. The aim of the article is to present the differentiation of food prices between European Union countries, with particular emphasis on the process of convergence of prices, and to evaluate the competitive advantages of Polish producers on the EU food market. A comparative analysis of food prices was carried out for 27 EU Member States, additionally broken down into “old” and “new” EU Member States. The study covered the years 2010- 2020. Eurostat data was the source of information. The method of descriptive and comparative statistics was used to evaluate the collected research material. As a result of the conducted analyzes, it was found that there is a large differentiation in food prices between individual countries of the European Union and the prices are clearly higher in “old” than “new” Member States. However, along with the progressing economic integration of individual markets with the EU market, there is a gradual alignment of domestic prices with EU prices. It was also shown that Polish food producers still had significant price advantages over competitors from other Member States. The ongoing process of food price convergence in the EU means, however, that they should actively seek new sources of competitive advantage.