Factors of International Competitiveness of EU Member States' Food Industries

The research problem presented in the article concerns the evaluation of competitive factors of EU Member States' food industries. Having adopted the concept of factor competitiveness, the focus was put mainly on the level and effectiveness of the use of resources owned by food producers. To this end, the following indices were calculated: a particular country's share in the total number of food industry enterprises in the EU, productivity, and labour costs. While considering the great significance of innovative activity in developing competitive advantage, innovative activity of food industries in particular countries was evaluated. It was found that food producers used various competitive factors. In the more technologically advanced countries, these included labour productivity and innovation. The so-called "new" Member States are still competing using low labour costs. [Publisher's text].