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The collapse of the communist system and the process of transformation process changed macro-social and institutional environment of rural communities in Poland. Market economy and democracy opened new prospects for rural communities and farmers. Sociological research proofs that farmers tend to be victims of the changes rather than winners. Rural transformation in Poland could be perceived in terms of the process of marketization of local resources and desagrarisation of rural space. Multifunctional agriculture produces market products and public goods which could be also commodified. Factors of rural space desagrarisation and development of its new functions are discussed. Rural space is becoming a space of consumption, which enables transforming its material and cultural heritage into market products. Factors supporting marketization of rural resources in Poland include: CAP reform, rural and agriculture development policy, governance in production and consumption of food. Differentiation of rural economy enables capitalization of local social and cultural resources and using them in diverse local development strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the issues involving the process of joining the European Union (EU) by Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary. The countries became a member of the EU on May 1, 2004 to achieve a sustainable economic development and to establish an identity in the rural community. It identifies three main problem areas, including the causes and modalities of the European slowness capacity, pre-accession period that start about 1990 with the political discovery and the temporary conclusions and hypothesis that focuses on the development in the rural areas of the EU member countries.