The pan-European Volt party, which will present candidates in the June European elections in sixteen EU Member States, is determined to shake up Europe (their slogan: ‘We will rock EU’) and to get some elected representatives into the hemicycle of the European Parliament.
Meeting in Brussels on Saturday 6 April for the launch of their European campaign, its members refined their fundamentally pro-European political arguments, and were trained in how to build teams and run a campaign. And they have elected two heads of list at European level (‘co-Spitzenkandidaten’): the Dutch MEP, Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew Europe), and the German, Damian Boeselager, MEP from the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament.
As it begins to take shape and spread across the EU, the European Volt party is facing a number of obstacles, including a lack of resources, bureaucratic procedures in the Member States that make it difficult, for example, to register to vote, and the need to establish itself in the eyes of the general public.
In 2019, Volt succeeded in getting Mr Boeselager elected. In 2024, the party dreams of reaching the threshold of five elected members of the European Parliament. Hopes are high in the Netherlands, where the polls give the pan-European party two MEPs and the citizens’ movement already has local and national elected representatives. Volt is already well established in my country, because it’s easier to create new parties in the Netherlands, Anna Strolenberg from the Netherlands, second on the Dutch list, told Agence Europe on Saturday 6 April. Working for an NGO involved in welcoming migrants, she decided to stand as a candidate after Mark Rutte’ s government collapsed over migration policy. In her opinion, too many lies have been told.
With a view to the European elections in June, the Volt party has a strong supporter in the person of Ms in ’t Veld, who, after four terms in the European Parliament, has taken the “painful” decision - in her words - to leave the D66 party to stand as a candidate in Belgium on the Volt Flemish list.
To date, the Dutch Liberal is still not guaranteed to lead this list. Volt blames bureaucratic procedures and technical malfunctions on the federal online platform for enabling citizens residing in Belgium to support new lists. No fewer than 5,000 signatures are required to support a list, whether French-speaking or Flemish. To denounce what Ms in ‘t Veld described as “surreal” complications, the European party lodged an appeal with the Belgian Ombudsman. Another option for presenting a list is to gather the support of five local or federal elected representatives. However, the new party is encountering resistance from traditionalist parties such as the environmentalists and the NVA, who now see it as a competitor.
Interviewed by Agence Europe, Ms in ’t Veld emphasised Volt’s “great potential” as a citizens’ movement chasing the centre of the political spectrum on a programme calling for more European democracy, i.e. greater transparency in the management of public affairs and greater control by the Parliament over the executive. “The European Parliament is a formidable legislative machine, but it doesn’t hold the European Commission to account enough”, she said. “Volt wants to fix democracy. When we have done this, my bet is that populism will reduce”, added Mr Boeselager.
The European Party is also very much in favour of the Spitzenkandidaten system, because it adds a dose of parliamentarianism by helping to ensure that the President of the Commission is elected by Parliament, thereby reducing the European Council’s hold on appointments to senior European positions.
It is “unacceptable” that Ms von der Leyen, outgoing President of the European Commission and head of the European People’s Party list, is not standing as a candidate for the European Parliament, said the Dutch Liberal. By choosing Nicolas Schmit from Luxembourg, the Party of European Socialists does not really believe in the process, while the Liberals have not designated a lead candidate, she criticised.
In a symbolic move, the pan-European party broke new ground on Saturday by unveiling a transnational list of candidates for the European elections, including representatives... from the United Kingdom! Unlike the European Parliament, the majority of the Council of the EU remains opposed to this institutional innovation, which would enable all European citizens, in addition to voting at national level, to elect MEPs led by heads of list at European level (see EUROPE 13293/24).
No second mandate for Ms von der Leyen as head of the Commission
Ms in ’t Veld had harsh words for the President of the Commission. “I don’t think she should have a second mandate”, she said. It is true that the von der Leyen Commission initiated the European Green Deal and managed the Covid-19 pandemic well, but Ms von der Leyen missed the “opportunity of a lifetime” to make Europe “matter in the Middle East”. A passivity, for her, that was “unforgivable”.
The MEP also criticised the release of €10 billion in European funds to Hungary at the end of 2023, an initiative she described as a “contempt for democracy”. In exchange for this decision, Budapest stopped blocking the official opening of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU (see EUROPE 13313/9).
Mr Boeselager agrees: “[Ms von der Leyen] has no idea where Europe is heading”.
Volt is also highly critical of the way in which the EU is managing migration, by externalising the management of migrant flows to countries that have less regard for democracy and respect for human rights.
Where to sit in the future European Parliament?
The question posed by the press on Saturday was not answered by Volt activists.
Mr Boeselager said he was “open” to “discussions” between the Greens and the Liberals in due course, based on the political priorities set out in the Volt programme: a more democratic Europe, a transition to climate neutrality, a strong social dimension with affordable housing and public transport, and the creation of a European army. Mr Boeselager pointed out that ‘liberal’ and ‘environmentalist’ do not mean the same thing in all Member States. “There are always differences of opinion. But that doesn’t happen at Volt”, which relies on a unique programme, he said.
“The political configurations within the European Parliament are not set in stone”, said Ms in ’t Veld, expressing the hope that the political groups in the future European Parliament would be recomposed. “I would very much like for us to be at the heart of such a process”, she added. And she concluded by saying that in the European Parliament, “you can easily form a progressive, centrist, pro-European group like ours. You’ll convince a lot of people among the Liberals, the Greens, the Socialists and even some in the EPP!” (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)