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Article published In:
Argumentation in European Politics
Edited by Corina Andone and Bart Garssen
[Journal of Argumentation in Context 11:1] 2022
► pp. 47–68

The argumentative style of the opening speech of a debate in the European Parliament

| University of Amsterdam

In this contribution a characterization is given of the argumentative style utilised in an opening speech of a plenary debate in the European Parliament. This debate is initiated through an opening speech in which the rapporteur of a parliamentary committee presents the European Commission’s proposal, as well as the amendments and the arguments to support them. As it is the rapporteur’s aim to gain broad parliamentary agreement with the proposal, the opening speech is vital to the debate, because all contributions of the MEPs relate directly to the argumentation put forward by the rapporteur. Based on the analytic overview the strategic design and the three dimensions of argumentative style the argumentative style that is used by the rapporteur is characterized.

Keywords: argumentative style, European parliament, parliamentary debate
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Legislative debates in the European parliament
  • 3.The opening speech of the debate about the European food supply chain
  • 4.Analysis of the argumentative discourse in the opening speech
    • 4.1The analytically relevant moves
      • a.The difference of opinion
      • b.The point of departure
      • c.The argumentation structure
      • d.The outcome
    • 4.2The strategic considerations
  • 5.The argumentative style of the rapporteur’s opening speech
    • 5.1Characteristics of the confrontational argumentative style
      • Topical selection
      • Audience demand
      • Exploitation of presentational devices
    • 5.2Characteristics of the opening argumentative style
      • Topical selection
      • Audience demand
      • Exploitation of presentational devices
    • 5.3Characteristics of the argumentational argumentative style
      • Topical selection
      • Audience demand
      • Exploitation of presentational devices
    • 5.4Characteristics of the concluding argumentative style
      • Topical selection
      • Audience demand and exploitation of presentational devices
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 8 March 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jaic.21026.gar
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