Economic factors underpinning the structural genotypes of agriculture development in the European Union after 2004

The purpose of this study was to identify the similarities and differences between EU-27 countries in production structures of the agricultural sector. The investigation focused on the concentration of productive inputs as well as on the specialization and orientation of production processes because of the relationship these characteristics have with production efficiency. The indices used in the Ward’s clustering method were estimated based on data from the 2005–2013 Farm Structure Survey. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to determine the statistical significance of differences between the clusters. Four structural genotypes of agriculture were identified. While the EU-12 (genotype IV) and EU-15 (genotypes II and III) differ considerably in productive inputs and production concentration, the differences in prevailing production patterns are less pronounced. EU-15 countries differ mainly in the specialization level, and are similar in terms of production concentration. The genotypes identified do not coincide strictly with the typical EU-12/EU-15 aggregates. This is because Southern European countries (Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy), although members of the EU-15, are closer to the structures characteristic of EU-12. Conversely, although the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the EU only in 2004, they have the highest concentration rates.