EN
This paper looks at competitiveness and relative advantages and disadvantages of the foreign trade of live beef cattle within EU27 countries in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic (V4 countries) between 1999 and 2010. An analysis of the competitiveness of these countries (with RSCA-index) shows relative advantages in Poland and in Czech Republic currently, but in Hungary and in Slovakia there are relative disadvantages in the EU27 live beef cattle market. For Hungary and Slovakia the indicators show a reduction of extent of these disadvantages. The international trade balances were positive at each studied countries in each studied year. The financial crisis which started at 2008 had negative consequences and caused significant decline reflected in all three applied indi - cators (RSCA, TB, (M)UVD). According to classification by Gehlhar and Pick [2002] the quality-based competition was changed for a price-based competition in the studied period in Hungary, in Poland and in the Czech Republic. On the contrary, the price-based competition turned into quality-based competition in Slovakia.
PL
W artykule podjęto tematykę konkurencyjności oraz względnych przewag w handlu zagranicznym żywca wołowego w krajach Grupy Wyszehradzkiej (Węgry, Polska, Słowacja i Czechy) w latach 1999-2010. Analiza konkurencyjności tych krajów (z RSCA-index) pokazuje obecnie względne korzyści w Polsce i w Czechach. Na Węgrzech i na Słowacji wykazano względne pozycje niekorzystne, jednak z trendem malejącym.