Newsletter - November 2024

Welcome!

 In the future, this will be a monthly update about Volt and our efforts to change politics for the better across Europe and here in Slovenia. We already have more than 30.000 members in over 30 European countries.

What’s happening in Volt Slovenia?

After the summer break and with the European elections behind us, we’ve set ourselves an ambitious objective: let’s launch Volt Slovenia! 

We are still a small group, but if you follow us on social media, you can see we’re firing up our engines. We’ve begun drafting our Statutes and are now working on our initial political programme. Both are required along with 200 signatures to launch Volt Slovenia.

News from Volt Europa

As an avid follower of European politics, you have probably heard the good news: we managed to elect 5 MEPs into the European Parliament. 3 MEPs from Germany and 2 from the Netherlands. Even better: Nela, who ran as #2 on the German list after finishing an internal programme and training for getting more citizens from diverse backgrounds into politics is today leading the European Parliament Commission for Culture and Education (CULT, because acronyms). From an elementary school teacher in a disadvantaged neighborhood to being able to influence education across Europe. A great story and example of what Volt is about. 

Elsewhere in Europe

Last week Volt Belgium completed its electoral marathon running in local, provincial and regional elections after the national and european elections earlier in summer. In Belgium, all elections are held once every 5 years within a few months. And although our team was quite exhausted and only managed to elect one local representative in Etterbeek (XXX), the Belgian chapter now counts over 500 members.

On the other side of Europe and closer to us is Volt Albania, who also started the procedure to create a political party. 3000 signatures are required and with our team from Tirana hosting the upcoming European General Assembly at the end of November, we will surely spend a day running around in the streets helping to collect signatures. Once we are ready in Slovenia, we’re also counting on the help of our other sections from Austria to Italy to Hungary and Croatia - this is what makes Volt unique: we’re working together across borders.

Politics on the ground

Not having our political party yet does not mean we cannot do anything. Here are three initiatives we support and which you can also support with your signature:

1. EU Inc. https://www.eu-inc.org/

   The incoming European Commission will soon define their priorities and this petition is asking for a paneuropean corporate entity for startups (and companies in general). D.O.O. in Slovenia, GmbH in Germany, SA in France. If we have a single market, why does every country have their own company format and legislation. This petition tries to change it and we’re happy to support it across Europe. You can do so aswell the petition on: https://www.eu-inc.org/ 

2. My Voice my choice https://www.myvoice-mychoice.org/ 

   This is a European Citizens Initiative (ECI) launched in Slovenia that wants to provide secure means for abortions in EU countries where it is difficult. ECIs need to collect 1 million signatures in 1 year for the European Commission to put the topic on the agenda. The ECI is at 670.000, so if you want to help, sign the ECI and share it with your friends on the Commission website: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2024/000004_en# 

3. Referendum on Slovenia’s 2nd nuclear power plant

   On November 24th, you can cast a consultative vote on whether Slovenia should build a 2nd nuclear power plant. Volt thinks it is a good idea, because it will make us more energy independent - we could replace part or all of the remaining coal used as per https://app.electricitymaps.com/map and make our energy mix much greener. However, the 14B€ price ticket is heft and considering the risk of corruption and our first reactor having been built together with Croatia to share cost and energy production, Volt Slovenija suggests to also build this reactor together with neighboring countries. Having stakeholders from multiple member states will increase transparency and thus limit the potential of misusing public money. Plus Slovenia would show it’s European spirit by helping the whole region becoming more energy independent and reducing CO2 emissions. Please use your vote on November 24th and please be vocal about making this a European project.

Get involved

You can see, a lot is happening across Europe. And as Volt Slovenia we also want to contribute to our European movement and to building a voice in politics in Slovenia.

You can help us amplify this voice - follow us on social media, mention Volt if you have an opportunity, or join us at one of our upcoming meetings.