Unravelling the European food security puzzle: exploring determinants and constructing a comprehensive measure

The main objective of the presented paper is to show the current level of food security conditions in Europe and identify its determinants. The paper presents the development of the food security situation in Europe in the period 2001–2020. It shows in detail conditions in the year 2020 which were influenced by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the continent. The analysis used the definition of food security and its pillars according to FAO. It used available data from FAOstat for 12 variables in 4 pillars of food security from 2001 to 2020 for 38 European countries to produce composite indicators using Data envelopment analysis. This was used as the dependent variable in panel models with five explanatory factors: added value in agriculture, fishing and forestry, trade openness, gross capital formation, urbanization, and temperature change obtained from the World Bank database. Relationship between variables was estimated using Fixed effects, Random effects, and Pooled mean group model. The analysis found that food security in Europe increased until 2014, then followed a decline which was not compensated until 2020. The weakest regions were identified in the South-eastern and Eastern parts of Europe. The most key factors in the long run were the gross capital formation, added value of agriculture and trade openness. The impact of urbanization and gross capital formation was more important in the short run than in the long run. The effect of temperature change was positive in the short run in most of the analyzed countries, despite its negative long-run influence. The added value of the presented paper in the theoretical field is its methodology, from a practical point of view the paper offers information which could be used in further addressing food security problem solutions.