Volt Europe

Volt Europa was founded on March 29, 2017 by Italian pro-European politician Andrea Wenzon with the support of French lawyer Colomb Caen-Salvador and German journalist and business consultant Damian Böselager. According to the founders, the creation of a new party was their reaction to the growing populism in the world and to Brexit . ^{[6] [7]} In March 2018, the first national structure was founded in Hamburg (Germany). Volt Europa now has its own subsidiaries in each member state of the European Union . The largest of them is located in Italy , where more than 4000 joined the party. ^{[8] [1]}

Initially, the organization was called Vox Europe ^[9] , then it was registered as a non-profit association in Luxembourg under the name Volt Europa. ^[10] In May 2019, the movement totaled more than 25,000 members in 32 European countries, it was registered as a political party in 12 EU countries and nominated candidates in eight of them. ^{[1] [2]} It is reported that about 70% of the current members were not politically active until joining the Volt. ^[eleven]

On October 27 and 28, 2018 Volt Europa held a meeting of its General Assembly in Amsterdam , at which the Amsterdam Declaration program for the European Parliament was presented. ^[12]

March 22-24, 2019 Volt Europa held its first European Congress in Rome , ^[13] at which it presented its candidates to the European Parliament. The list of keynote speakers included:

• Paolo Gentiloni , former Prime Minister of Italy and President of the Italian Democratic Party ;
• Emma Bonino , Italian Senator , former European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, former member of the European Parliament and former member of the Italian government;
• Enrico Giovannini , former Italian Minister;
• Marcella Panucci, Director General of the General Confederation of Italian Industry ;
• Sandro Gozi, President of the (CEF);
• Antonio Navarra, President, Mediterranean Center for Climate Change.

In economic terms, Volt Europa supports the digitalization of the economy, investments in the green and blue economy , the fight against poverty and inequality (including through the establishment of a common European minimum wage ), the unification of the European tax system and public-private partnerships to revive economic growth and reduce unemployment; also supports increased investment in social security policies, in particular in education and health. ^[fourteen]

Socially, Volt Europa supports the fight against sexism , racism and LGBT rights . Institutionally, they support the broad reforms of the European Union, in particular, the general management of migration phenomena, the creation of a European army and the issuance of Eurobonds. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

In the media, the organization is described as aimed at promoting democracy at the EU level. She emphasizes the importance of a single European voice, which is heard in the world. ^[17] In addition, Volt Europa supports the idea of ​​a federal Europe with a strong European parliament, in which citizens will become the center of European democracy. ^{[18] [19]}

Volt Europa differs from other pro-European movements, such as the or the Union of European Federalists, as it seeks to participate in European, local and national elections through its subsidiaries in EU member states. Her first main goal is the election to the European Parliament in May 2019. ^[twenty]

Volt Europa is compared with the movement of Emmanuel Macron " Forward, Republic! ” ^[21] and with pro-European parties such as NEOS in Austria .

Austria

Volt Austria ( German: Volt Österreich ) was registered as a party in Austria and planned to take part in the European elections in 2019, ^[22] but the required 2,600 signatures were not collected on time, so Volt Europe did not get the right to run in the elections Austria. The party will try to run for election again in the upcoming 2019 national elections in Austria.

Germany

“Volt Germany” ( German: Volt Deutschland ) is registered as a party in Germany and thus has the right to participate in elections in the Federal Republic of Germany. ^[23] The Volt Deutschland program for the 2019 European elections is identical to the program of other European sections and is based on the Amsterdam Declaration, which is also fundamental to Volt Europe. ^{[24] The} initial focus will be on five “problems” that Volt Germany wants to solve at the local, regional and national levels, namely, “intellectual state, social equality, economic revival, politically active citizenship” and “global balance”. In addition to these priorities, transnational reform of the EU is planned in accordance with the Volt Germany and Volt Europe programs. In the 2019 European elections, Volt Deutschland won 248,824 votes, or 0.7% of the total number of votes in Germany. As the leader of the list, Damian Freicherr von Böselager will receive one of 96 seats from Germany in the European Parliament. ^{[25] [26]} The most popular Volt Deutschland enjoyed in the cities. The highest percentage of votes (2.9%) was obtained in Heidelberg , in Munich and Karlsruhe the party gained 2.2% of the vote, in the two largest German cities, Berlin and Hamburg, 1.2% each. ^[27] At the simultaneously held local elections in Mainz , Volt received 1.2% of the vote in elections to the city council and will be represented there by one deputy. ^[28]

Netherlands

Volt Netherlands ( Dutch: Volt Netherlands ) was founded on June 23, 2018 in Utrecht ^[29] and participated in the European elections in May 2019. According to a preliminary official result, the movement gained 1.9% of the vote and thus did not receive any of the 26 seats from the Netherlands. ^[thirty]

Italy

In Italy, Volt Europa participated in the municipal elections in Novi Ligure through its Italian branch Volt Italia, receiving 1.43% of the vote. ^{[31] [32]}

Switzerland

Volt Switzerland reports on regular meetings in various cities of Switzerland, ^[33] but is not registered as a party and does not participate in elections. This is partly due to the fact that Switzerland does not have membership in the European Union.

European Parliament Elections (2019)

In France (failed to collect € 800,000 ^[51] ), Italy (failed to collect 150,000 signatures ^[52] ), Austria (failed to collect 2,600 signatures ^[53] ) and Portugal (failed to collect 7,500 signatures ^[54] ) participation in the elections was planned, but the party failed to register. ^[55]

Volt Europa uses crowdfunding and direct donations to fund its activities. The party declares that it discloses on its website each donation in the amount of more than 3,000 euros per donation or from one donor per year within 15 days from the moment of its receipt. The two largest donors on the party’s website are the Open Society Initiative for Europe (€ 19,191) and businessman Christian Oldendorf, founder and CEO of ParkU (€ 25,000). ^[56] Several other donors are listed on the Volt Deutschland website. Among them, Christian Oldendorf (95,000 euros) b Klaus von Loper (20,000 euros), as well as Procudo GmbH, Ludwig Douglas and Leopold Douglas (10,000 euros each). ^[57]

• volteuropa.org - the official site of Volt Europe