Jordbruket, en del av vår identitet En studie om Frankrikes stöd för EU:s gemensamma jordbrukspolitik

Sammanfattning: Abstract The European union experience sometimes difficulties in advancing its work due to the member states? different ambitions and interests. The budget is one common tool that the member states can use in order to implement different policies according to their preferences. A large share of the budget is presently tied up in the CAP, the common agricultural policy. This share could be spent in another area and by doing so the EU could take a slightly different direction. France is the CAP's most energetic defender. But why is its defence so compact? The study examines French official reports from the president, the prime minister and the minister for agriculture and relates these texts to theories about identity and globalisation. My hypothesis claims that the support for the CAP is related to the fact that agriculture, an agriculture not subjected to free trade, is a vital part of the French national identity. This hypothesis is also proven through my results. The defence of the CAP is a question of nationalism. A part of France identity is indeed to be found within its model of agriculture and therefore a threat to the CAP's existence is also a threat to the French national identity. Further more France is opposed to the globalisation since it, in numerous ways, also threatens the CAP and consequently the French national identity. This adds up to the overall purpose of France support for the CAP, the preservation of the nation state in the mind of the French. Keywords: France, identity, globalisation, agriculture, the CAP