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Abstract
The paper outlines the most noticeable economic effects of the 2004 accession of
Slovenia to the European Union (EU) on its agri-food sector. The main national statistical
data are used to compare the situation in the Slovenian agri-food sector in the pre- and postaccession
period.
The main expected effects were related to joining the vast Common market through
increased market competition and opportunities, as well as through the structural and
organizational adjustments of a relatively small agri-food sector to it. Unexpectedly, these
adjustments were halted in general, resulting most evidently in the increased export of raw
agri-food products and import of processed products.
Slovenian agri-food chain, especially the food industry, remains heavily challenged by its
relatively poor competitive and organizational performance, both even more pronounced a
decade after the EU accession.