Self - sufficiency of the Slovak Republic in the Beef Sector in the Context of the Common Market of the European Union

The structured paper deals with the issue of production and food self-sufficiency. The aim was to assess the degree of production and food self-sufficiency of the Slovak Republic in the beef sector in the context of the common market of the European Union. The analysis was performed for the time period year 2015-2020. Emphasis was placed on quantifying and comparing the levels of self-sufficiency of the Slovak Republic and the EU in the beef sector. Two methodological procedures were used to determine self-sufficiency rates, based on balance sheet indicators and manufacturing output. The paper also brings a new perspective on the level of food self-sufficiency by quantifying potential self-sufficiency. Based on the performed analysis, we can state that the results of the examined indicators confirm the low level of self-sufficiency of the Slovak Republic in beef, while the European Union as a whole is in surplus in this sector. At the same time, the results directly reveal the existence of problems and dysfunction of supplier-customer relations between primary production and beef processors in the Slovak Republic.