POTICANJE SAMOSTALNIJEG TRZISNOG NASTUPA: STAVOVI HRVATSKIH POLJOPRIVREDNIKA

In this article we are trying to determine the attitudes of Croatian farmers towards the subsidies and their readiness for independent approach to the European market. In order to test the hypotheses, an empirical research was performed, based on the sample of 106 farmers from the Varazdin County. We have examined farmers' characteristics, the size of their agricultural production and subsidies they received for agricultural production. We were interested in farmers' attitudes towards subsidies and their views in relation to the Croatian accession to the European Union. The results show that their attitudes towards subsidies depend on the proportion of the subsidies in the agricultural revenue. Farmers who are more dependent on the state support are not ready for the independent performance on the market. Regarding the attitudes towards accession to the European Union, Croatian farmers are afraid of uncertain future. However, respondents with greater revenues from agricultural activities were more sure of their competence for competing in the European market. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]