Volt Europa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Basilics (talk | contribs) at 14:42, 5 November 2018 (common link for same reference used twice). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Volt Europa
PresidentAndrea Venzon
Vice PresidentDamian Boeselager
FoundersAndrea Venzon
Colombe Cahen-Salvador
Damian Boeselager
FoundedMarch 29, 2017; 7 years ago (2017-03-29)
HeadquartersLuxembourg
IdeologyLiberalism
European federalism
Social liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
Radical centrism
Economic liberalism
Colours  Purple
Website
www.volteuropa.org
Flyers by Volt in Germany

Volt Europa (frequently abbreviated Volt) is a pro-European political movement that serves as the pan-European structure of EU parties for the European Parliament elections in May 2019. It was founded in 2017 by Andrea Venzon, supported by Colombe Cahen-Salvador and Damian Boeselager. The organisation follows a "pan-european approach" in many policy fields such as climate change, migration, economic inequality, international conflict, terrorism and the impact of the technological revolution on the labour market.[1][2]

History

Volt Europa was founded on March 29, 2017 by Andrea Venzon, supported by Colombe Cahen-Salvador and Damian Boeselager. According to the founders, the foundation was a reaction to growing populism in the world and to Brexit.[3] [4] In March 2018, the first national subsidiary party was founded in Hamburg, Germany. The subsidiary with the most members is Italy, the home country of Milanese Andrea Venzon, the first ideator.[5] Volt is now active with a national movement in every EU member state.

Volt Europa was incorporated as a non-profit association in Luxembourg under the name Volt Europa[6], Vox Europe was the former name of the organisation.[7] Today, the movement has ca. 15.000 members in more than 30 European countries.[8]

Noteworthy is that around 70% of the current members have not been politically active before joining Volt.[9]

From October 27, 2018 till October 28, 2018 Volt Europa hosted its General Assembly meeting in Amsterdam, presenting the Amsterdam Declaration programme for the European Parliament as well.[10]

Political agenda

Volt Europa has been compared to Emmanuel Macron's La Republique en Marche movement[11], Jeremy Corbyn's Momentum group[12] and could also be compared to recent pro-European parties such as Ciudadanos in Spain and NEOS in Austria. In media reporting, the organisation is described as aiming to foster democracy on the EU level and build European patriotism.[13] It stresses the importance of a united European voice that is heard in the world.[14] Also, it supports the idea of a federated Europe with a strong European Parliament in which the citizens become the very center of European democracy.[15][12][16]

Volt is distinct from other pro-European movements such as Pulse of Europe or the European Federalists as it aims to participate in European, local and national elections through its subsidiary organisations in EU member states, for the first time in the European Parliament elections in May 2019.[17] In this sense, Volt Europa is a transnational party (such as the Newropeans or the European Federalist Party) and could be described as supporting the notion of demoicracy. Volt Europa is supposed to serve as an umbrella organisation to the national subsidiaries.

Volt Europa also stated that it is on neither the left political spectrum nor the right one, however the party is considered to be leaning more towards the left. [citation needed]

Vision

Volt Europa's vision is divided in 5+1 fundamental challenges: Smart State, Economic Renaissance, Social Equality, Global Balance, Citizen Empowerment and EU Reform that it wants "to advance in every European country[18]". The reason for 5+1 is that the 5 first challenges will be adapted to the national level to take into account local realities, and the +1 challenge – their proposal to reform and strengthen the EU – will be identical across all their national programs. Those 5 first challenges provide guidelines to all Volt Chapters, and do not only deal with European competences[18]. The first 5 challenges are addressed firstly at a European level (in the Mapping of Policies[19]) and then adapted and further developed on national and local realities, so as to allow to address national or local issues at a proper level of governance, while trying to guarantee political coherence. The +1 relates to the EU Reform challenge, that addresses how to reform and strengthen the EU and which cannot be adapted at a national level, since it relates to European institutions and relationships.

Political Values

Volt guides itself by six political values: Equal Opportunities, Justice, Liberty, Human Dignity, Sustainability and Solidarity.[18]

Election results

Volt contested its first elections in the 2018 local elections in Belgium, fielding candidates in Antwerp and two municipalities (Ixelles and Etterbeek) in Brussels. In none of the municipalities seats were gained.

Municipalities Votes % Misc.
Antwerp 1,476 0.5% Contested as Paars: Piraten + Volt[20]
Ixelles 191 0.6%
Etterbeek 287 1.5%

References

  1. ^ "About us". Volt. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  2. ^ Chandler, Mark (2018-01-26). "The future of the EU? New movement to create United States of Europe party". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  3. ^ "Volt: Jugendpartei will die Idee der Europäischen Union retten". Wirtschaftswoche (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  4. ^ "Volt wants to become the first pan-EU political party". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  5. ^ "POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by the Barilla Foundation: Europe in 4 speeches — New US ambassador — A different Brexit story". POLITICO. 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  6. ^ "Legal". Volt. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  7. ^ Disegni, Simone. "I millennial di Volt vogliono dare la scossa alla Ue: rilanceremo l'Europa". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  8. ^ "Volt: Jugendpartei will die Idee der Europäischen Union retten". Wirtschaftswoche (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  9. ^ "«Nous voulons créer le premier parti paneuropéen»". Libération.fr (in French). Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  10. ^ "Nieuwe partij wil van Europa een krachtpatser maken". RTV Rijnmond (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-10-28.
  11. ^ tagesschau.de. "Europawahl 2019: Italiener will für die EU begeistern". Tagesschau (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  12. ^ a b Chandler, Mark (2018-01-26). "The future of the EU? New movement to create United States of Europe party". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  13. ^ "POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by the Barilla Foundation: Europe in 4 speeches — New US ambassador — A different Brexit story". POLITICO. 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  14. ^ "Scende in campo la generazione Erasmus. Una conversazione con Andrea Venzon, presidente di Volt". European Circus (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  15. ^ Dvořáková, Věra. "Volt wants to "energise Europe" – but how?". The New Federalist. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  16. ^ Disegni, Simone. "I millennial di Volt vogliono dare la scossa alla Ue: rilanceremo l'Europa". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  17. ^ "Volt - Eine neue Partei für Europa". www.hamburg1.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-13.
  18. ^ a b c "Vision". Volt. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  19. ^ Mapping of Policies Volt. Retrieved 2018-08-30
  20. ^ Kandolo, StampMedia - Lieven Miguel. "Nieuwe progressieve partij Volt komt op voor gemeenteraadsverkiezingen". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Flemish). Retrieved 2018-10-27.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Volt Europa.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Volt_Europa&oldid=867406506"