On Saturday 6 April in Brussels, the pan-European political party Volt will be electing a pair of leading candidates (‘co-Spitzenkandidaten’), one man and one woman, at an event to launch its campaign for the European elections in June.
Candidates include outgoing MEPs Damian Boeselager (German), the only member of the Volt citizens’ movement and currently a member of the Greens/EFA group, and Sophie in ‘t Veld (Dutch), who has decided to join Volt and is currently a member of the Renew Europe group. Other candidates are from the Slovakian and Spanish electoral lists.
The pan-European party delegates will also nominate their representatives, who will be included - symbolically - on a transnational list of candidates led by the co-Spitzenkandidaten.
We will do this to “show that we are ready”, Mr Boeselager told Agence Europe.
Promoted by the European Parliament, the creation of transnational lists would enable citizens to elect MEPs on a pan-European basis in addition to national elections (see EUROPE 13293/24). It is opposed by a majority of Member States who are attached to anchoring elections in the national context.
Other pan-European events linked to the election campaign will take place on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April in Maastricht, as well as a march on Thursday 9 May in Schengen.
Registered in around twenty European Union countries, the Volt party is expected to put forward lists of candidates for the European elections in June in around fifteen countries.
In November 2023, Volt adopted its election manifesto in which it put forward proposals for a Europe that is more democratically legitimate, more transparent and more respectful of fundamental values (see EUROPE 13301/24).
To see the Volt manifesto, go to https://aeur.eu/f/9rz
More information on the campaign launch event: https://aeur.eu/f/bjt (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)