Changing EU agricultural policy discourses? The discourse analysis of Commissioner's speeches 2000-2007

This paper is a combination of political economy and critical discourse analysis of public texts about the common agricultural policy (CAP) by concerned agents and the EU's agricultural Commissioner in the period of November, 2004 until October, 2007. The analysis reveals how concerned agents articulated three competing discourses (neomercantilism, multifunctionality, and neoliberalism). It also shows that elements of the discourse of neoliberalism in the Commissioner's speeches, despite her use of different discourses for different audiences, are becoming more and more important in order to facilitate further reforms and liberalisation of the CAP.