**Vasile Burja \*, Attila Tamas-Szora and Iulian Bogdan Dobra**

Faculty of Economic Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University of Alba Iulia, Alba Iulia 510009, Romania; attila.tamas@uab.ro (A.T.-S.); dobra.iulian@uab.ro (I.B.D.)

**\*** Correspondence: vasileburja@yahoo.com

Received: 5 February 2020; Accepted: 7 March 2020; Published: 10 March 2020

**Abstract:** Land grabbing has become a priority topic in academic research and a political concern, due to interests in the dynamics of the phenomenon and its negative impact on the sustainable development of agriculture in rural areas. This phenomenon generates changes in production systems of agriculture with adverse environmental consequences, adversely affects socio-economic and cultural conditions and leads to lower overall efficiency in agriculture. This article analyses the links between land concentration, land grabbing and sustainable development of agriculture in Romania compared to other old and new EU-28 countries. The results of the research show that the land grabbing in Romania has a significant dimension compared to the other countries analyzed, which has led to an inadequate agrarian structure and adverse effects on the sustainable performance of agricultural holdings and the sustainable development of rural areas.

**Keywords:** land grabbing; land concentration; sustainable development; agrarian structure; performance
