Investigating Narrative Transformations on Animal Welfare in the European Parliament

We live in challenging times. New, post-materialistic values emerge in our societies that often are at odds with policies and institutions in place. New groups and initiatives represent those values, challenging the status quo and the actors maintaining it. Are such struggles reflected in narratives occurring in political debates? If so, how do they manifest? We investigate these questions by examining the case of animal welfare policies in the European Parliament. The agricultural system is in the midst of far-reaching transformation processes, as agricultural activities are a major contributor to climate change and environmental degradation. Changing public demands and consumption patterns further contribute to the pressure on food production systems to become more sustainable. In particular, current practices in intensive livestock farming are subject to increasing criticism. The reasons are manifold. In addition to the exploitation and pollution of land and water resources, the welfare of farmed animals is a major challenge that is receiving increasing attention in many countries. Policymakers at the national and at the EU level are currently struggling to find ways to make agriculture more animal-friendly. Recently, farm animal welfare has also been on the agenda of the European Parliament, partly as a reaction to the successful EU citizen initiative “End the Cage Age”. Whereas historically the EU by means of the Common Agricultural Policy has promoted a productivity and income-oriented policy approach, sustainability and animal welfare issues are now gaining importance. In particular, the increasing share of green parties in the current European Parliament (EP) is likely to contribute to the strengthening of animal-welfare goals within agricultural policymaking. What role does animal welfare play within the realignment of EU agricultural policymaking? Which policy preferences do different political groups within the EP have towards the issue of animal welfare? As to what degree do policy positions and preferences change from the 8th to the 9th EP election period? In order to explore these research questions, we apply the Narrative Policy Framework to plenary discourses in the 8th and 9th European Parliament. This allows us to identify discourse patterns and discourse coalitions as well as changes in narrative structure over time. In view of the sketched challenges and pressures facing the agricultural policy subsystem coupled with the strengthening of the Greens within the EP, we expect major changes in the discourse and the realignment of coalitions. More precisely, we expect farm animals and consumers more often to be portrayed as victims, environmental activists as heroes and large-scale farmers as villains.