EN
The aim of the article is to present the multifunctional character of agriculture as a basis for the formulation of new objectives and creation of new forms of the implementation of the integrated development policy for agriculture and rural areas. The author describes the conditions and factors determining the multifunctionality of European agriculture, the products of multifunctional agriculture and ways of developing multifunctionality at various levels of activity. An analysis of the phenomenon of multifunctionality observable on a European scale has provided arguments in favor of the incorporation of multifunctionality into the programmes of integrated development of agriculture and rural areas in Poland.