1991-2017 the Southeast coast of the Baltic Sea area, Lithuania, Latvia and Kaliningrad Region of the Russian coastal habitats was very intense, often chaotic variety of recreational facilities and areas of privatization and urbanization. These processes significantly influenced the character of the recreational landscape of Palanga, Jurmala and other resorts and coastal areas, as well as the expression of the urban structure and architecture of seaside towns, Ventspils, Liepaja, Giruliai, Melnragė, Karklė, Šventoji, Curonian Spit and other settlements. After a quarter of a century, some tendencies of the recreational environment and the evolution of the cultural landscape identity can be noticed. Recently, several projects for the improvement of recreational infrastructure and architectural environments have been implemented in Lithuania with the assistance of the European Union Structural Funds. Unfortunately, the results of the projects are not always positive. The planning of coastal settlements is often overlooked by good long-term planning experience. This article analyses the impact of changes in the quality of the Lithuanian recreational territorial system in the South-Eastern Baltic and the region’s recreational potential. Palanga resort areas dominated by architectural chaos and recreational quality of the environment tended to deteriorate, especially experts poorly assessed the central Basanavičiaus street. The changes in cultural landscapes are influenced by a whole range of methodological and practical factors: insufficiently effective research and modeling methods, unjustified privatization of state property, huge flows of individual automobiles, faults in the formation of recreational greenery. Based on the research of the recreational system of the coastal region of the long-term seaside, it can be concluded that in recent years the quality of the environment of many coastal zones of Lithuania has lost important qualitative components, deteriorated the quality of public spaces and increased urban and architectural chaos.

1991-2017 the Southeast coast of the Baltic Sea area, Lithuania, Latvia and Kaliningrad Region of the Russian coastal habitats was very intense, often chaotic variety of recreational facilities and areas of privatization and urbanization. These processes significantly influenced the character of the recreational landscape of Palanga, Jurmala and other resorts and coastal areas, as well as the expression of the urban structure and architecture of seaside towns, Ventspils, Liepaja, Giruliai, Melnragė, Karklė, Šventoji, Curonian Spit and other settlements. After a quarter of a century, some tendencies of the recreational environment and the evolution of the cultural landscape identity can be noticed. Recently, several projects for the improvement of recreational infrastructure and architectural environments have been implemented in Lithuania with the assistance of the European Union Structural Funds. Unfortunately, the results of the projects are not always positive. The planning of coastal settlements is often overlooked by good long-term planning experience. This article analyses the impact of changes in the quality of the Lithuanian recreational territorial system in the South-Eastern Baltic and the region’s recreational potential. Palanga resort areas dominated by architectural chaos and recreational quality of the environment tended to deteriorate; especially experts poorly assessed the central Basanavičiaus Street. The changes in cultural landscapes are influenced by a whole range of methodological and practical factors: insufficiently effective research and modelling methods, unjustified privatization of state property, huge flows of individual automobiles, and faults in the formation of recreational greenery. Based on the research of the recreational system of the coastal region of the long-term seaside, it can be concluded that in recent years the quality of the environment of many coastal zones of Lithuania has lost important qualitative components, deteriorated the quality of public spaces and increased urban and architectural chaos

The employment of people with disabilities has multidimensional aspects - economic, social, legal, human rights, discrimination, psychological, ethical and responsibility aspects - with different actors involved representing various kinds of interests. The European Union Disability Action Plan and Strategy specifies the objective of promoting the employment of people with disabilities in the open labour market. The employment of such individuals is not only an economic issue, but also an issue of social inclusion, poverty reduction, equal opportunity and socially responsible employment. Effective and fair use of human resources for national economic development requires a variety of support mechanisms, including regulatory frameworks, the active involvement of local municipalities, and measures taken by state institutions. Because of the different issues and the various actors with different interests involved, an integrated way has to be considered to analyse the employment factors and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to explore and substantiate the possible scenarios associated with promotion employment opportunities for people with disabilities in Latvia. The research methodology employed for this study is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, and expert interviews are used to analyse the interests of all involved parties, in order to determine the best possible scenarios as to how to stimulate employment for people with disabilities. As a result, three scenarios to promote the employment of people with disabilities were developed. Although the results showed slight differences between the three scenarios, experts believe that the optimal scenario for promoting the employment of people with disabilities is the one in which the EU participates.

The employment of people with disabilities has multidimensional aspects − economic, social, legal, human rights, discrimination, psychological, ethical and responsibility aspects − with different actors involved representing various kinds of interests. The European Union Disability Action Plan and Strategy specifies the objective of promoting the employment of people with disabilities in the open labour market. The employment of such individuals is not only an economic issue, but also an issue of social inclusion, poverty reduction, equal opportunity and socially responsible employment. Effective and fair use of human resources for national economic development requires a variety of support mechanisms, including regulatory frameworks, the active involvement of local municipalities, and measures taken by state institutions. Because of the different issues and the various actors with different interests involved, an integrated way has to be considered to analyse the employment factors and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to explore and substantiate the possible scenarios associated with promotion employment opportunities for people with disabilities in Latvia. The research methodology employed for this study is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, and expert interviews are used to analyse the interests of all involved parties, in order to determine the best possible scenarios as to how to stimulate employment for people with disabilities. As a result, three scenarios to promote the employment of people with disabilities were developed. Although the results showed slight differences between the three scenarios, experts believe that the optimal scenario for promoting the employment of people with disabilities is the one in which the EU participates.

Production economics forms a very important part of an enormous range of economic theory. Agricultural production is no exception. When evaluating the competitiveness of the multifunctional agriculture, it is necessary to use the measure of efficiency instead of productivity. The conception of the efficiency is explained and the methods for measurement are provided. The authors discuss the methods of Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA), Free Disposal Hull (FDH) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) that are particularly useful for multi-criterial evaluation of multifunctional processes. Those methods assign an efficiency score to each Decision Making Unit (DMU) based on how well it transforms a given set of inputs into outputs. Most studies have only focused on application of DEA method for assesment of the efficiency of agriculture farms. There is still a need on applications for sectors. This paper provides an examination of the applicability of DEA method to agriculture sectors efficiency measurement. By applying mathematical models, which are based on the DEA, the efficiency of agriculture in each EU country was evaluated.

Production economics forms a very important part of an enormous range of economic theory. Agricultural production is no exception. When evaluating the competitiveness of the multifunctional agriculture, it is necessary to use the measure of efficiency instead of productivity. The conception of the efficiency is explained and the methods for measurement are provided. The authors discuss the methods of Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA), Free Disposal Hull (FDH) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) that are particularly useful for multi-criterial evaluation of multifunctional processes. Those methods assign an efficiency score to each Decision Making Unit (DMU) based on how well it transforms a given set of inputs into outputs. Most studies have only focused on application of DEA method for assessment of the efficiency of agriculture farms. There is still a need on applications for sectors. This paper provides an examination of the applicability of DEA method to agriculture sectors efficiency measurement. By applying mathematical models, which are based on the DEA, the efficiency of agriculture in each EU country was evaluated.

The development of organic farming is determined by many factors. On the one hand, it is an increase in demand for food produced in this production system, on the other it is a subsidy system for organic farming under the CAP. The purpose of the article is a comparative analysis of the direction of changes in the development of organic farming in Poland and Latvia compared to the EU in the years 2000–2017. Information was analysed on the organic farming i.e. the area of organic crops, the number of certified farms and organic retail sales, based on FIBL data from the years 2000–2017. An analysis of the trend of changes in organic farming in Poland and Latvia indicates that the development of organic farming in both countries has clearly accelerated after their accession to the EU and after covering organic farming by the CAP support system. However, the case of Poland is definitely different from the trend of changes in organic farming in Latvia and in the EU, where both the number of organic farms and their area increased, with the simultaneous development of the organic food market. There are many indications that mistakes were made in the organic farming subsidy system.

The development of organic farming is determined by many factors. On the one hand, it is an increase in demand for food produced in this production system, on the other it is a subsidy system for organic farming under the CAP. The purpose of the article is a comparative analysis of the direction of changes in the development of organic farming in Poland and Latvia compared to the EU in the years 2000-2017. Information was analysed on the organic farming i.e. the area of organic crops, the number of certified farms and organic retail sales, based on FIBL data from the years 2000–2017. An analysis of the trend of changes in organic farming in Poland and Latvia indicates that the development of organic farming in both countries has clearly accelerated after their accession to the EU and after covering organic farming by the CAP support system. However, the case of Poland is definitely different from the trend of changes in organic farming in Latvia and in the EU, where both the number of organic farms and their area increased, with the simultaneous development of the organic food market. There are many indications that mistakes were made in the organic farming subsidy system.

The economy of Latvia lags behind economically developed nations approximately fourfold in terms of labour productivity in the tradable sector, which is the key constituent of a modern economy, thereby affecting future sustainable development in the entire country, including the rural areas. The economic backwardness is characteristic of the entire Central and Eastern Europe. This is the heritage of a communist regime that lasted for about half a century and the economic system termed a (centrally) planned economy or a command economy. However, such a term for the communist-period economy is not correct, as it does not represent the purpose it was created for. Accordingly, the paper aims to assess the effect of the communism period on the economic backwardness of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU. A planned economy that existed in all communist countries, with the exception of Yugoslavia, was not introduced to contribute to prosperity. It was intended for confrontation or even warfare by the communist countries under the guidance of the USSR against other countries where no communism regime existed, mostly Western world nations with their market economies. For this reason, it is not correct to term it a (centrally) planned economy or a command economy; the right term is a mobilised (war) economy. An extrapolation of a geometric progression for GDP revealed that during the half a century, Latvia as part of the USSR was forced to spend on confrontation with the West not less than EUR 17 bln. (2011 prices) or approximately one gross domestic product of 2011. The research aim of the paper is to assess the effect of the communism period on the economic backwardness of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU.

The economy of Latvia lags behind economically developed nations approximately fourfold in terms of labour productivity in the tradable sector, which is the key constituent of a modern economy, thereby affecting future sustainable development in the entire country, including the rural areas. The economic backwardness is characteristic of the entire Central and Eastern Europe. This is the heritage of a communist regime that lasted for about half a century and the economic system termed a (centrally) planned economy or a command economy. However, such a term for the communist-period economy is not correct, as it does not represent the purpose it was created for. Accordingly, the paper aims to assess the effect of the communism period on the economic backwardness of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU. A planned economy that existed in all communist countries, with the exception of Yugoslavia, was not introduced to contribute to prosperity. It was intended for confrontation or even warfare by the communist countries under the guidance of the USSR against other countries where no communism regime existed, mostly Western world nations with their market economies. For this reason, it is not correct to term it a (centrally) planned economy or a command economy; the right term is a mobilised (war) economy. An extrapolation of a geometric progression for GDP revealed that during the half a century, Latvia as part of the USSR was forced to spend on confrontation with the West not less than EUR 17 bln. (2011 prices) or approximately one gross domestic product of 2011. The research aim of the paper is to assess the effect of the communism period on the economic backwardness of the Central and Eastern European region of the EU.