**1. Introduction**

Agriculture is an essential branch of the economy due to its role in food security, employment in rural areas and biodiversity insurance, as well as in the preservation and protection of the natural environment. As such, the role of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in strategic decisions regarding the future of the European Union seems to be a fundamental issue. Since its launch in 1962, the successive reforms of the CAP have focused on creating more market-oriented agricultural sectors and increasing their competitiveness, as well as improving income support to producers and adapting environmental requirements into the development strategies.

The recent CAP reform of 2013 was integrated into the Europe 2020 Strategy to achieve green growth in the agricultural sector and the rural economy (i.e., smart, sustainable and inclusive growth). Such challenges had the following objectives [1]:


The CAP reform after 2020 will start from a need to modernize and simplify, so that European agriculture can develop smartly, resiliently, sustainably and competitively. The agricultural sector must provide safe and high-quality food to over 500 million consumers, contribute to the dynamic and sustainable development of rural areas and respond to citizens' expectations regarding quality of life, state of health, the environment and climate. The unique European agricultural model implemented through legislative measures regarding the CAP has focused on increasing the economic viability of farms, improving environmental and weather conditions and strengthening the socio-economic

fabric of rural areas. The creative development is a cross-cutting objective implemented by fostering knowledge, innovation and digitalization in agriculture and rural areas. The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021–2027 pursues nine specific objectives through the Common Agricultural Policy: (i) providing a fair income to farmers, (ii) increasing competitiveness, (iii) rebalancing power in the food chain, (iv) determining actions to fight climate change, (v) caring for the environment, (vi) preserving landscapes and biodiversity, (vii) supporting generational renewal, (viii) establishing vibrant rural areas and (ix) protecting food and health quality.

The purpose of our research is to evaluate the link between land concentration, land grabbing and the sustainable development of Romanian agricultural holdings in comparison with other EU member states. The analysis is also useful for countries that joined the EU later, and for European countries with developed agriculture, as some aspects of land grabbing are common, and the achievement of an optimal agrarian structure is an essential issue of agriculture and rural areas in all countries.

Authorities with national and international competence in their respective countries can influence decisions on the land grabbing phenomenon and thus contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture, environment and rural space. The impact of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) is difficult to quantify at present, but must be monitored in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the international community.

The sustainable development of agriculture encompasses new dimensions for each country by including the objectives of the 2030 Agenda into development strategies, including ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture (Goal 2). Romania's National Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 aims to develop a sustainable and competitive agri-food sector to improve quality of life in rural environments. It aims to ensure living conditions similar to those in urban areas, to encourage local and ecological production and to promote traditional and mountain products with added value [2].

The sustainable development of agriculture and rural spaces depends on an efficient use of production factors including agricultural land, the labor force and technical factors. The sizes of farms, depending on the area of land used, have direct economic, social and environmental implications. Excessive fragmentation of the land means the existence of agricultural holdings that have not adapted to the requirements of the market economy, including low incomes for farmers, non-competitive agricultural technologies, small agrarian productions and the impossibility of accumulating capital to achieve economic growth. The existence of exaggerated-scale farms, on the other hand, creates environmental pressures by affecting biodiversity, as well as through the insufficient use of labor in rural areas. These farms can also lead to the destruction of local food traditions, and the practice of a type of agriculture that does not comply with ecological principles and can affect quality of life.

Having farms of an optimum size that are able to use production factors efficiently is a global objective for agriculture on which the food security of populations depend [3]. This process involves land consolidation, but only up to specific dimensions, beyond which the global marginal yield decreases and adverse economic, social and environmental effects begin to appear.

The utilization of land consolidation to achieve appropriate agrarian structures is not a simple process; it started in the second half of the last century and its practice has continued to expand. However, the process is complicated in consideration of objective difficulties related to the functioning of the land market and transaction costs. Other difficulties are also common, including personal issues related to attachment to the land, the establishment and observance of property rights and risk-taking.

The conflicting interests between small farmers and large farms gave rise to the land grabbing phenomenon. This phenomenon often receives the attention of academic literature, media and NGOs, which point out the negative consequences of losing control over the land and restricting family farming, which is characterized by the European model of agriculture.

The Tirana Declaration defines land grabbing as acquisitions or concessions that include one or more of the following: (i) a violation of human rights, particularly the equal rights of women; (ii) the lack of free, prior and informed consent of the affected land-users; (iii) the lack of a thorough

assessment, or a disregard of social, economic and environmental impacts, including the ways in which they are gendered; (iv) a lack of transparent contracts that specify clear and binding commitments about activities, employment and benefit sharing; and (v) a lack of effective democratic planning, independent oversight and meaningful participation [4].

The debate on large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) is complex and reflects the views of two categories of actors. The first point of view argues in favor of large companies that mobilize capital and control large tracts of land, and supports the need to restructure agriculture by concentrating areas of a sufficient a size to favor the modernization of agricultural systems. These companies focus on intensive technologies and integration into global markets through foreign investment and export growth.

The other point of view reflects the interests of those who traditionally use the land (farmers, pastoralists and indigenous people) and have small farms, who claim that LSLAs threaten human rights, food security, their incomes, quality of the environment and the sustainable development of the rural areas [5]. The impact of LSLAs is difficult to quantify at present, but needs monitoring in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the international community.

Land is not a mere commodity that is traded on the market at a particular value. The transfer of property rights among people makes land ownership is a social relationship, and the connection between people and land amplifies a feeling of national and local identity [6]. Rural landscapes and celebrations related to land cultivation have created emotional connections to rural areas by their inhabitants. This connection is compromised by the loss of ownership of the land.

Land grabbing is a global problem that manifests itself at different intensities. Research shows that the phenomenon is present mainly in Africa [7], South and Central America [8], Asia [9], and former Soviet Eurasia [10]. However, it is also present in Europe, in particular in Central Eastern European countries [11]. In Romania in particular it occurs on a large scale, as foreign investors control almost 40% of the arable area [12].

Land concentration has always been a trend in Europe. Currently, however, it is occurring at an alarming rate, which is likely to affect the sustainable development of European rural areas. The trend is present not only in the states that joined the EU more recently (of which this study recognizes Romania, Hungary, and Poland in particular), but also Germany and France.
