Volt Europa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | Volt |
| President | Francesca Romana D'Antuono (IT), co-president Mels Klabbers (NL), co-president |
| Founded | 29 March 2017; 8 years ago (2017-03-29) |
| Headquarters | Boulevard Bischoffsheim n° 39 boîte 4 1000Brussels,Belgium |
| Youth wing | Volt Violet |
| Membership(2024) | 30,000 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre[5][6] tocentre-left[7] |
| European Parliament group | Greens/EFA (since 2019) |
| Colours | Purple[8] |
| European Parliament | 5 / 720 |
| European Commission | 0 / 27 |
| European Council | 0 / 27 |
| European Lower Houses | 2 / 6,229 |
| European Upper Houses | 2 / 1,458 |
| Website | |
| volteuropa.org | |
Volt Europa (knownmononymously asVolt) is a transnationalpro-European andfederalistEuropean political movement. It operates as apan-European umbrella for subsidiary parties sharing the same name and branding.
Volt aligns its political positions across Europe, presenting a common, pan-European manifesto. In the2019 European Parliament elections, Volt ran in eightmember states with a shared platform, emphasising solutions to supranational challenges, such as climate change, defense, energy policy, migration, economic inequality, terrorism, welfare, and the technological evolution of the labor market. The party advocates for a stronger, more integratedEuropean Union, with the long-term goal of creating a federal Europe.[9] Additionally, Volt endorses the formation of aEuropean army, joint European debt and taxes,nuclear energy including the construction of new nuclear power plants,[10][11] and stronger economic solidarity between the EU member states.
Initially using the slogan "Neither left nor right", Volt is now generally perceived ascentrist[5][6] orcentre-left, with a core focus onevidence-based policy and best-practice sharing among EU countries and municipalities.[12] It campaigns on these principles in both local and national elections.
Founded in March 2017, Volt's first national subsidiary party was established inHamburg, Germany, a year later. Since then, Volt has developed local teams in all EU member states, as well as in non-EU countries likeAlbania,Switzerland,Kosovo,Ukraine, and theUnited Kingdom. Volt subsidiaries are now registered political parties in many of these countries, most recently expanding toCyprus andRomania.
Despite its organisation and being referred to as a "European party" or "transnational party", Volt does not yet meet the requirements to register as aEuropean political party.[13]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2024) |
Volt Europa was founded on 29 March 2017 byAndrea Venzon, Colombe Cahen-Salvador, andDamian Boeselager, on the same day that the United Kingdom formally announced its intention to leave the European Union underArticle 50 of theTreaty on European Union.[14][15][16] According to their own statement, Volt's foundation was a reaction to growing populism in the world as well as toBrexit.[17][15] Venzon became founding President, Boeselager Vice President, and Cahen-Salvador policy lead.[18][15]
Between 27 and 28 October 2018, Volt Europa hosted its General Assembly meeting inAmsterdam, agreeing its Amsterdam Declaration, which also served as its manifesto programme for theEuropean Parliament elections.[19] The party previously gathered in Berlin, Bucharest, and Paris.
Between 22 and 24 March 2019, Volt Europa hosted its first European Congress in Rome,[20] presenting its candidates for the2019 European Parliament election. The keynote speakers list includedPaolo Gentiloni (formerPrime Minister of Italy andPresident of the Italian Democratic Party),Emma Bonino (Italiansenator and formerEuropean Commissioner for Health and Food Safety),Enrico Giovannini (formerItalian Government minister), Marcella Panucci (Director General of theGeneral Confederation of Italian Industry),Sandro Gozi (President of theUnion of European Federalists) and Antonio Navarra (President of the Mediterranean Center for Climate Change).
During theEuropean Parliament elections in May 2019, the party won one seat by winning 0.7 percent of votes in Germany, withDamian Boeselager its firstMember of the European Parliament.[21]
On 9 June 2019, following a pan-European vote of party members, Volt elected to join theGreens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament.[22] In the future, Volt hopes to be able to form its own political group in the European Parliament, which would require a minimum of 25 MEPs from at least seven different member states.
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From 12 to 13 October 2019, Volt Europa hosted its general assembly inSofia to elect the new board of Volt Europa. While Volt up to that point had been an ASBL non-profit with only few registered members, based in Luxembourg, it was transformed into aninternational non-profit organization (AISBL) according to Belgian law.[23] In the AISBL structure all members of the Volt movement, as well as the national subsidiaries could become voting members. The statutes of Volt Europa lay out a general assembly, open to all members, which decides on important issues, and elects a gender-balanced board of nine directors.[24]
Volt's Spring 2020 general assembly was scheduled to take place inLisbon, but due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the party held a digital general assembly, which included a decision on its programme until 2024.[25][26]
From 16 to 17 October 2021, Volt Europa hosted its General Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal, the first physical General Assembly since 2019. During the 2021 General Assembly, Reinier van Lanschot who has been co-president since the General Assembly in Sofia 2019 was reelected. Francesca Romana D'Antuono from Italy was elected as co-president. Johannes Heinrich from Switzerland was elected as treasurer. The six non-executive board members elected were: Ines Consonni, Anouk Ooms, Lucia Nass, Thor Larholm, Charles Evain and Lucas Amorelli Ribeiro Kornexl.[citation needed]
On 27 November 2023, Volt adopted its joint European election programme during its General Assembly in Paris.[27] At a subsequent meeting in Brussels on 7 April 2024, the party electedSophie in 't Veld and Damian Boeselager as its lead candidates for the2024 European Parliament elections, also choosing a symbolic transnational list.[28]
Following the election, Volt increased its number of seats from 2 to 5, with 3 seats from Germany and 2 from the Netherlands. Volt announced that it would engage in negotiations with both the Greens/EFA andRenew Europe groups in the European Parliament and would let its members vote on which group to join. Upon a unanimous recommendation by its newly elected MEPs, 87% of voting party members chose to remain affiliated with the Greens/EFA group.[29][30]
Volt Europa was incorporated as a non-profit association (ASBL) inLuxembourg under the name "Volt Europa",[23] abandoning a previous name of Vox Europe to avoid any confusion with asimilarly named far-right Spanish party.[31]
"Volt" was chosen as a name due to its similarity to the initial name and the added meaning of figuratively bringingvoltage into politics. Added to that, both the term "Volt" and theLatin version of the name of the European continent are understood in allEuropean languages, hence as a transcontinental movement, Volt Europa does not need to translate its own name, except for languages where non-Latin alphabets are used (likeBulgaria,Cyprus,Greece, andUkraine).[32]
In 2018, Volt identified "the 5+1 fundamental challenges", which it has identified as crucial for an improvement of the European Union:[33]
On economic issues, Volt Europa supports digitisation, investment in thegreen andblue economy, measures to address poverty and inequality (including a European minimum income of at least 40% of the median wage), a more integrated European tax system with exclusively European taxes, and the use of public-private partnerships; it also supports increased spending on welfare, in particular related to education andhealthcare.[33] Volt has supported a European Basic Income (EBI), based on a "negative tax system". In this model, individuals earning below a set threshold receive payments instead of paying taxes, providing a safety net and incentivizing work. Volt argues that the legal basis for an EBI is already established under Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and that its implementation would harmonize member states' welfare systems.
On social policy, Volt opposes sexism and racism and supports LGBT+ rights.[34]
Volt also supports deep reforms to EU institutions, including common management of migration and border protection, aEuropean army, andEuropean debt and taxation.[35][36][33] It argues that a European army should be established and that the relationship between the EU and NATO should be reviewed and balanced.[37]
Volt supports the idea of a federal Europe with a strong European Parliament,[38][31] in order to create a united European voice on the global stage.[39] There should be a European government, elected and accountable to the parliament, instead of a European commission. The European election law should be uniform across all member states, the European parliament should gain the right to initiate laws, and theEuropean Council should be transformed into asecond chamber with regressive voting weights to balance the dominance of larger states. Volt supports a referendum across all member states, which legitimizes such a constitution for the set of agreeing member states to form a core union, even if not every member state agrees.[40]
In terms of environmental policy, Volt has committed to the 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) target of theParis agreement. To implement the target, Volt proposes a broad certificate trading scheme, the proceeds of which should be redistributed to citizens. Volt supports investment intonuclear power for maintenance and new reactors ifsafety standards are met. A European energy grid is promoted to integrate production and distribution in the European single market.[41]
As opposed to other movements promoting European integration, such asPulse of Europe or theEuropean Federalists, Volt has participated in elections on all levels of government as a political party. Its first major objective was theEuropean Parliament elections in May 2019.[42][43] Volt has participated successfully in local,[a] national, and European elections.
In 2024, Volt published the "Electoral Moonshot Programme", its electoral programme for the 2024 European elections, with comprehensive policy proposals organised in five pillars: Europe's geopolitical leadership, quality of life, humane migration, making votes count, and a liveable planet.[44] The program is available in 7 languages.[45]
The structure of Volt Europa is similar to parties in federal political systems, such as Germany. Volt Europa is registered as an international non-profit (AISBL), according to Belgian law. The membership of Volt Europa consists of both the local political branches, which are often incorporated according to national law, elect a local leadership, and often have further sub-levels, as well as all individual members. Individual members thus often have double membership of both Volt Europa and a national branch.[23]
The highest authority of the party is the General Assembly, which consists of all AISBL members and can pass motions on all matters relating to the organization. The General Assembly is open without a delegate system although some local branches use delegate systems (e.g. Volt Germany). A five-member intra-party legal board (Conflict Resolution Body) is elected by the General Assembly.[23]
All membership associations of Volt Europa send representatives to the Country Council, which formal role is restricted to deciding on the admission of new membership associations and political alliances on the European level. However, informally the Country Council plays an important role in advising and overseeing the work of the European Board.[23]
| Year | Name | Country Chapter | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2019 | Andrea Venzon | Volt Italy | 1st |
| Damian Boeselager | Volt Germany | 1st | |
| 2019–2021 | Valerie Sternberg | Volt Germany | 1st |
| Reinier van Lanschot | Volt Nederland | 1st | |
| 2021–2023 | Reinier van Lanschot | Volt Nederland | 2nd |
| Francesca Romana D'Antuono | Volt Italy | 1st | |
| 2023– | Francesca Romana D'Antuono | Volt Italy | 2nd |
| Mels Klabbers | Volt Nederland | 1st |
According to the party's financial accounts, it generates most of its income through membership fees and donations. National chapters provide 25% of their membership fees to Volt Europa to finance its operation. Volt claims to publish every donation exceeding€3,000 per donation or donor per year within 15 days from its receipt on the party's website and that its national and local chapters adhere to the same standard.[46] On 9 May 2021, Volt announced that they had raised €40,000 in three weeks in a fundraising drive ahead of the2024 European Parliament election.[47]
Volt has received several large donations from firms in the housing and start-up sectors. Its biggest donors areElastic founderSteven Schuurman with €500,000 via his Dreamery foundation, Marc Dreesmann, heir to Anton Dreesmann of Dutch retail companyVroom & Dreesmann with around €160,000, and Christian Oldendorff, heir to German shipping firmOldendorff Carriers with around €120,000.TomTom founderPeter-Frans Pauwels has donated €100,000. The NGO JoinPolitics has donated €50,000 to Volt Germany for a joint project ("Team Europa") to mobilize minority candidates for the European elections.[46][48][49]
Volt Albania (Albanian:Volt Shqipëri) is not registered as a party inAlbania, but engages as a movement on the ground and participates at the European level of Volt.[50]
Volt Austria (German:Volt Österreich) is Volt's registered political party inAustria. The party planned to take part in the European elections in 2019,[51] but did not succeed in collecting the required 2,600 signatures in time to qualify for the ballot.[52] Since then, the party contested some local elections, but did not receive a mandate. It intended to partake in the 2024 European Elections and promised to give two of the people who signed tickets to aTaylor Swift concert, but was not proven effective as the party did not gain enough signatures.[53]
Volt Belgium (Dutch:Volt België,French:Volt Belgique,German:Volt Belgien) is Volt's registered political party inBelgium.[54] Volt Belgium was the first section to participate in elections, when they took part in the2018 Belgian local elections inIxelles,Etterbeek and also shared a list with the localPirate Party (Paars) forAntwerp.[55] During the 2019 European Parliament elections, Volt participated in theDutch Speaking electoral college, receiving 0.48% of the vote, not enough for a seat.[56]
Volt Bulgaria participated in all threeBulgarian parliamentary elections in 2021, the first two as part of the anti-government coalitionISMV then underPP for the third election. ISMV won seats in both elections, but none of them were allocated to members of Volt.[b][c][57] PP won theNovember 2021 election and thus Volt gained two seats, which it defended in theelection in October 2022.Nastimir Ananiev[58] served as the chair of the parliamentary committee of the Regional Committee, as well as deputy chair of thePP parliamentary group, while Ventsislava Lyubenova[59] served as chair of the foreign relations committee. In the 2024 Parliamentary Elections the party lost its mandate in parliament.
Volt Cyprus was founded on 3 December 2023. In November 2023, MPAlexandra Attalides announced her intention to join Volt and was subsequently elected co-president at the party's founding congress.[60] The party is fully active in the Cypriot political system and participates in local and European elections. In the 2024 European elections, the party gained 2.9% of the vote and thus did not win a seat.
Volt was founded 2019 and operated from 11 April 2021 to 28 June 2022 in the Czech Republic as the registered associationVolt Česká republika, z.s,[61] with Karolina Machová and Adam Hanka as the chairs of the association and Jan Klátil as the treasurer.[62] Volt is now registered as political partyVolt Česko.[63]
In the2022 local elections in Prague, the party contested an election for the first time.[64] Volt received 4,816 votes (0.14%) and thus did not win a mandate.[65]
The Danish chapter of Volt,Volt Danmark, was founded on 21 July 2018.[66] The party contested an election for the first time in November 2021 with the municipal election inFrederiksberg.[67][68] Volt received 105 votes (0.2%) and thus did not win a mandate. The party needs 21,195 digital signatures to be eligible for national elections, as well as 70,680 to run in the 2024 European Elections.[69]
FormerPresident of Estonia andMinister of Foreign Affairs,Toomas Hendrik Ilves, joined Volt Europa on 10 April 2025, breaking a previous pledge to not affiliate to any political party. He defended this by saying "to my mind (Volt) stands for all of what I believe", and "I share the values embodied in Volt".[70]Volt Estonia has not participated in anyelection.
Volt Finland (Finnish:Volt Suomi) started collecting signatures in July 2023 to be officially registered as a party and to be able to stand in elections.[71] The application ended with Volt having garnered only 553 signatures out of the 5000 required by June 2024.[72]
Volt France was founded as the ninth national branch of Volt Europa, and has nine active branches, with "city teams" in Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Nice, Paris, Rennes, and two cross-border branches in Ain-Geneva and Strasbourg-Kehl.
The party was unable to participate in the European Elections 2019 due to a lack of funding. In 2020, Volt France participated inmunicipal elections. The party ran in coalition with the Greens in Lille, where they received 24.5% in the first round, and lost in the second round with 39.4%;[73] as a coalition with "100% citoyens" in Lyon, receiving 3.4%[74] and 1.6%[75] in two districts; and alone in Paris'9th district, receiving 0.5% in the first round.[76]
In the2022 general election, the party contested in 17 out of 577 constituencies, including constituencies abroad.[77] The party achieved its best result in the national constituencies in the5th constituency of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department with 3.25%.[78] The best overall election result was achieved by Volt in the7th constituency of the French abroad (Central Europe) with 4.97%.[78]
In the 2024 European election, the party ran as part of theEurope Territoires Écologie coalition, but did not manage to win a seat.[citation needed]
Volt Germany (German:Volt Deutschland) became a registered political party in Germany in 2018, allowing it to compete in German elections.[79] Volt Germany's basic programme is based upon a policies proposal, which is also fundamental for Volt Europa.[80] The German branch's initial focus was the five "challenges" of "an intelligent state, social equality, economic renaissance, politically active citizenship" and "global balance". It also seeks to implement an overarching policy of transnational EU reform in accordance with the programmes of both Volt Germany and Volt Europa.[80] Volt Germany's programme for the2019 European elections was identical to that of all other European sections. It was adopted as the "Amsterdam Declaration" by all Volt sections in October 2018.[80]
In the 2019 European Election, Volt Germany received 248,824 votes, 0.7% of the total votes in Germany. As a result, Volt Germany's leading candidateDamian Boeselager won one of Germany's 96 seats in the European Parliament.[81][82]
Volt Germany has won individual seats on a number of city councils. In local elections occurring the same day as the European Elections in 2019, Volt received 1.2% of the votes for the election to the City Council inMainz, winning 1 seat.[83] In Bavaria's 2020 local elections, the party won one seat each inBamberg andMunich.[84][85] In Munich, Volt subsequently became part of the governing coalition with theSocial Democrats.[86][87] Later that year, the party won seats on the city councils ofCologne,Bonn,Aachen,Siegen,Münster,Düsseldorf, andPaderborn. Volt was particularly strong in Cologne and Bonn, where it received around 5% of the votes, resulting in four and three seats, respectively.[88][89] The party also won seats inDarmstadt,Frankfurt,Wiesbaden,Fulda, andHeusenstamm in the2021 Hessian local elections.[90] The 6.5% vote share in Darmstadt, to win five of the 71 seats, was the party's best ever result in a German council.[91]
In the 2024 European Election, Volt Germany received 1,023,161 votes (2.6%), translating to three seats in the European Parliament. The MEPs elected were Damian Boeselager,Nela Riehl andKai Tegethoff.[citation needed]
Volt Greece (Greek:Βολτ Ελλάδας) was founded in 2018.[92] In July 2022, the group elected its first executive secretariat and an ethics committee, which were tasked with preparing its establishment as a party.[93] On 4 October 2022, the party was officially registered, becoming the 18th registered party of Volt Europa.[94] In December 2022, Volt founded the new political alliance Green & Purple (ΠΡΑΣΙΝΟ & ΜΩΒ) together with the partiesIkologi Prasini,Pirate Party of Greece,Greens – Solidarity, Greek Party for the Animals and the ecofeminist movement Kyklos.[95] The party held its founding congress in Athens on 11 and 12 March 2023.[96] However, the Green & Purple alliance was barred from participating in theMay 2023 legislative election by theSupreme Court of Greece due to its late submission of relevant forms.[97] In theJune 2023 election, the alliance received 0.3% of the national vote.[98]
Volt Ireland was formed in the run-up to the 2019 European elections, but did not register as a political party. It launched its website in October 2021,[99] and in December 2021 the website indicated that it was seeking to collect the required 300 signatures from Irish and EU citizens residing in Ireland to register as apolitical party.[100][needs update]
Volt Italy (Italian:Volt Italia) was founded on 18 July 2018. Daniela Patti and Guido Silvestri are party leaders and Pasquale Lisena is treasurer.[101]
The party was unable to take part in the 2019 European elections, failing to obtain the required 150,000 notarised supporter signatures.[102] Since then, the party has taken part in a number of regional and local elections, winning mandates in Mantua and Isernia, among other cities, where Federica Vinci, then chair of Volt Italy, was elected deputy mayor.[103]
In the Basilicata regional election in 2024, Volt's candidate, Eustachio Follia, gained 1.21%.[104]
Volt Kosovo (Albanian:Volt Kosova,Serbian:Волт Косово) is not registered as a party in Kosovo, but engages as a movement on the ground and participates at the European level of Volt.[105]
Volt Luxembourg (Luxembourgish:Volt Lëtzebuerg,French:Volt Luxembourg,German:Volt Luxemburg) was founded in 2019 and received around 2% of the vote in the2019 European Parliament elections.[106] It did not repeat this result in the 2024 European Election, with the party gaining 1.04% of the votes, receiving no seats.
Volt Malta was officially registered as a political party in Malta in May 2021 and contested the 2022 elections for the national parliament, with two candidates covering four districts.[107]
Volt Netherlands is Volt's registered political party in the Netherlands and was founded on 23 June 2018 inUtrecht.[108] The party received 2.42% of the vote in the2021 general election, taking three seats in theDutch House of Representatives. It has since then lost 1 seat due to the removal ofNilüfer Gündogan from the party due to reports of reckless and abusive behavior.[109]
In the November 2023 general election, Volt received 1.69% of the votes, resulting in 2 seats in theDutch House of Representatives.[110]
For theEuropean Parliament Elections in June 2024, Volt received 5.13% of the votes, winning 2 of the 31 Dutch seats in the European Parliament.[111][112]
Volt Norway (Norwegian:Volt Norge) was established as a non-profit association (NGO) in June 2025, with its registered seat inSøgne.[113] They advocate forfull Norwegian membership in the European Union, arguing that theEuropean Economic Area Agreement leaves Norway as a "rule-taker" rather than a "rule-maker" in European affairs.[114] The current board of Volt Norway consists of Markus Buschmann and Fabian Rehmann.
Volt Poland (Polish:Volt Polska) has been operating inPoland as a registered association since 2023, being involved in local initiatives and partaking in international Volt structures.[115][116][117][118][119]
In October 2019, Volt Portugal submitted more than the 9,000 signatures needed to register as a political party.[120] After multiple delays, theConstitutional Court approved Volt Portugal as the country's 25th party in June 2020.[121] Volt Portugal initially planned to contestregional elections on the Azores in Autumn 2020, but was unable to do so due to a slow registration process, which did not allow enough time to recruit candidates.[122][123]
In the September2021 local elections, the party contested inLisbon (0.42%),Porto (0.42%),Tomar (1.22%),Coimbra (coalition 43.92%) andOeiras (coalition 7.27%), electing one single member of a Parish Assembly in Coimbra.[124] Independent MEPFrancisco Guerreiro supported the party in the local elections and announced he would join the party after his mandate expired,[125] although in the end he did not, instead calling for further cooperation between Volt,PAN andLIVRE in order to elect 1 MEP.[126]
In the January2022 general election, Volt Portugal contested a national election for the first time, running in 18 of 20 districts.[127] The party received 0.1% of the vote and did not win any seats.[128]
In the October2025 local elections, the party once again contested in Lisbon (0.40%), Porto (0.13%),Vila Nova de Gaia (0.60%),Odivelas (0.41%), Oeiras (in coalition 6.34%), Coimbra (in coalition 37.84%),Faro (0.89%), Tomar (0.67%),Rio Maior (4.95%),Torres Vedras (in coalition 47.16%) andLoulé (0.35%), managing to win one city council seat in Torres Vedras and one seat in the municipal assembly in Rio Maior.[129]
In the2026 presidential election, the party endorsed Manuela Magno for president.[130] After she failed to gather enough signatures to register her candidacy, the party supportedAntónio José Seguro, who won the first round with 31.1% of the vote.[131]
In the same year, MPFilipe Sousa met with Volt's MEPs, in order to discuss a partnership between Volt Portugal and theMadeira-based partyTogether for the People.[132]
Volt Romania (Romanian:Volt România) is Volt's registered political party in Romania. It was registered in February 2021, the 15th registered national party of Volt Europa.[133] The group has been active in the country since 2017, participating in initiatives against attacks on the rule of law and mobilising the diaspora to participate in the elections.[134]
The chairs of Volt Slovakia (Slovak:Volt Slovensko) areLucia Kleštincová and Rick Zedník.[135][136] The party held its founding party conference on 3 February 2024. It has more female than male members.[137]
Volt Slovenia is currently led by Sven Franck.[138] On 13 November 2025, it announced its intention to register as an official party in order to run in upcoming national and local elections.[139] On 19 December 2025, Volt Slovenia and thePirate Party agreed to run together in2026 general elections.[140]
Volt Spain (Spanish:Volt España) was officially registered as a party inSpain on 15 June 2018 as the third national section. The party won 32,291 votes in the 2019 European Parliament election.[141] In May, the party contested the local elections inMadrid for the first time since the European elections, but failed to win a mandate.[141] During the elections, a representative of the right-wing populistVox warned against confusion with his own party, as the placement of the ballot papers next to each other was, according to him, intended to cause confusion.[142] Volt's average age in Spain is below 35, and its chairs are Rachele Arciulo and Cristian Castrillón.[143]
Volt Sweden (Swedish:Volt Sverige) was founded on 2 July 2018. As of 2026, Aaron Benzinger serves as the sole co‑president, with the other co‑president position vacant, and Bastiaan van Hoorn serves as treasurer.[144] The party has local chapters inStockholm,Gothenburg andLund.
Volt Sweden campaigned in the2019 European Parliament election in Sweden as a write‑in party, relying on voters to manually write its name on blank ballot papers; it received 146 votes in this way.[145] The party also participated in the2022 Swedish general election, receiving 89 votes. In the2024 European Parliament election in Sweden, Volt Sweden again stood as a write‑in option, receiving 388 votes, an increase compared with 2019 but not sufficient to win a seat.
In early November 2021, theLjusnarsberg branch ofLiberalerna announced its intention to become an independent association and run under Volt in the local elections. The branch cited disagreements with the national party's willingness to cooperate with theSweden Democrats as the main reason for leaving. The branch’s locally elected representative, Hendrik Bijloo, subsequently joined Volt, becoming the first Volt representative in Sweden.[146][147] Volt did not retain representation in the 2022 Ljusnarsberg municipal election, receiving 33 votes (1.15 %).[148]
Volt Switzerland was founded on 9 October 2019.[149] There are teams inGeneva,Zurich,Basel,Bern andLugano.[150] In February 2020, Volt participated in the Unity Committee for the Free Movement of Persons. It is intended to address concerns of foreigners and Swiss with amigration background to achieve greater participation in Swiss public life and was also directed against thecitizens' initiative "For moderate immigration (limitation initiative)".[151]
In the municipal elections in Zurich in February 2022, Volt stood for the first time in an election in Switzerland and fielded candidates in 2 out of 9 constituencies.[152][153] In constituency 7+8 the party achieved 0.24%, in constituency 10 0.34%, which means that it did not win a mandate.[154][155]
The party is part of the Swiss Europe Initiative, which calls for theParliament and theFederal Council to start negotiations with the EU on institutional issues and cooperation.[156]
Volt Ukraine (Ukrainian:Вольт Україна,romanized: Volʹt Ukrayina) was founded in July 2022.[157] Its founder and chairman is Mykhaylo Pobigay, a war veteran and the head of the non-profit organisation Land of The Free. Volt Ukraine advocates forUkraine to join the EU, as well as more military support and a European orientation for Ukraine. Members of Volt Ukraine also help support refugees and arrange accommodation in Europe.[158]
Volt UK was registered with the BritishElectoral Commission in January 2020,[159][a] and campaigns for the UK to rejoin theEuropean Union.[160]
| Member state | Leading candidate | Votes | % of valid votes | Seats | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Belgium | Christophe Calis, Marcela Válková[161] | 20,385 | 0.33[162] | 0 | Only ran inDutch-speaking electoral college |
 Bulgaria | Nastimir Ananiev[163] | 3,500 | 0.17[164] | 0 | |
 Germany | Damian Boeselager, Marie-Isabelle Heiß[165][non-primary source needed] | 249,098 | 0.67[166] | 1 | |
 Luxembourg | Rolf Tarrach Siegel[167][168] | 26,483 | 2.11[169] | 0 | |
 Netherlands | Reinier van Lanschot[170][171] | 106,004 | 1.93[111] | 0 | |
 Spain | Bruno Sánchez-Andrade Nuño[172][173][174] | 32,432 | 0.15[175] | 0 | |
 Sweden | Michael Holz[176] | 146 | <0.01[177] | 0 | Without its own ballot papers |
 European Union | 438,048 | 0.22% | 1 | – | |
In addition, Andrea Venzon, co-founder of Volt, ran in the constituency ofLondon. As Volt had not managed to register as a political party in theUnited Kingdom, Venzon ran as an independent candidate, although outwardly under the Volt banner.[178][179]
InFrance (unable to raise €800,000 in funding to meet legal requirement to print its own ballot papers[180][non-primary source needed]),Italy (failed to collect 150,000 signatures[102]),Austria (failed to collect 2,600 signatures[181]),Portugal (failed to collect 7,500 signatures[182]), andDenmark (failed to collect a number of voter declarations corresponding to at least 2% of all valid votes at the last general election), Volt had intended to participate in the European Parliament elections but was unable to meet local requirements in time.[183]
| Member state | Leading candidate | Votes | % of valid votes | Seats | First spot in joint list[184] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Sophie in 't Veld, Suzana Carp, André Florent Staes[185][186] | 38,713 |  0.54[187] |  0 | - | Only ran in the Dutch-speaking electoral college |
| Bulgaria | Nastimir Ananiev | 1,504[d] |  0.07[188] | 0 | 10th | Joint list withPP–DB[189] |
 Cyprus | Andromache Sophocleous, Hulusi Kilim[190] | 10,777 | 2.92[191] | 0 | - | |
 Czech Republic | Adam Hanka, Barbora Hrubá[192] | 1,019[e] | 0.037[193] | 0 | 3rd | Joint list withSenator 21[194] |
 France | Rayna Stamboliyska, Sven Franck[195] | 63,482[f] | 0.26[196] | 0 | 7th | Joint list Europe Territoires Écologie withPRG,R&PS,MdP,MDC and CSDR[197] |
| Germany | Damian Boeselager,Nela Riehl[198] | 1,023,161 | 2.57[199] | 3 | - | |
 Greece | Fotis Kapsalis, Nikolaos Xesfingis[184] | 4,156[g] | 0.10[193] | 0 | 20th | Joint list withKosmos[200] |
 Italy | Marcello Saltarelli, Silvia Panini[201] | 21,249[h][i] | 0.09[202] | 0 | 12th | Joint list withDemoS andPD[203] |
| Luxembourg | Aurélie Dap, Philippe Schannes[204] | 14,348 | 1.04[205] | 0 | - | |
 Malta | Matthias Iannis Portelli[206] | 298 | 0.11[207] | 0 | - | |
| Netherlands | Reinier van Lanschot,Anna Strolenberg[208][209] | 319,238 | 5.13[210] | 2 | - | |
 Portugal | Duarte Costa, Rhia Lopes[211] | 9,571 | 0.24[212] | 0 | - | |
 Slovakia | Lucia Kleštincová, Maroš Halama[213] | 1,923 | 0.13[214] | 0 | - | |
| Spain | Clara Panella, Cristian Castrillón[215] | 22,020 | 0.12[216] | 0 | - | |
| Sweden | Michael Holz, Carri Ginter Wikström[217] | 388 | 0.01[218] | 0 | - | |
| European Union | Damian Boeselager,Sophie in 't Veld[28] | 1,467,815[j] | 0.81 | 5 | In addition to its top European candidates, the party put forward a symbolic transnational list. |
Other national parties that announced their intention to run but ultimately failed to collect enough signatures for their registration:
| Election | Political party | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Volt Belgium | Jordy Vanpoucke Olivia ten Horn | 1,669 | 0.02 | 0 / 150 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2024 | Carlo Giovanni Giudice Johanna Dirlewanger-Lücke | 7,245 | 0.10 | 0 / 150 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | Political party | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2021 | Volt Bulgaria (as part ofISMV) | Nastimir Ananiev | 150,940 | 4.65 | 0 / 240 | New | Snap election |
| Jul 2021 | 136,885 | 4.95 | 0 / 240 | 0 | Snap election | ||
| Nov 2021 | Volt Bulgaria (as part ofPP) | 610,273 | 25.46 | 2 / 240 | 2 | Coalition | |
| 2022 | 506,099 | 19.52 | 2 / 240 | 0 | Snap election | ||
| 2023 | Volt Bulgaria (as part ofPP–DB) | 621,069 | 23.54 | 1 / 240 | 1 | Coalition | |
| Jun 2024 | 307,849 | 13.92 | 0 / 240 | 1 | Snap election |
| Election | Political party | Leaders | Constituency | Party list | Seats | +/– | Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||||||
| 2021 | Volt Germany | Rebekka Müller Hans-Günter Brünker | 77,594 | 0.17 | 164,300 | 0.35 | 0 / 735 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2025 | Maral Koohestanian | 391,577 | 0.79 | 355,146 | 0.72 | 0 / 630 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| Election | Political party | Leaders | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2023 | Volt Greece (As part ofP&M) | Nikolas Fournarakis Theodora Famprikezi | 15,911 | 0.31 | 0 / 300 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | Political party | Leaders | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Volt Luxembourg | Aurélie Dap Michel Conter | 7,001 | 0.19 | 0 / 60 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | Political party | Leaders | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Volt Malta | Alexia DeBono Arnas Lasys | 382 | 0.13 | 0 / 67 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | Political party | Lead candidate | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Volt Netherlands | Laurens Dassen | 252,480 | 2.42 | 3 / 150 | New | Opposition |
| 2023 | 178,802 | 1.71 | 2 / 150 | 1 | Opposition | ||
| 2025 | 116,468 | 1.10 | 1 / 150 | 1 | Opposition |
| Election | Political party | Leaders | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Volt Portugal | Tiago Matos Gomes | 6,240 | 0.11 | 0 / 230 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2024 | Inês Bravo Figueiredo[223] | 11,854 | 0.18 | 0 / 230 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2025 | 12,150 | 0.19 | 0 / 230 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | Political party | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Volt Sweden | Alexander Löf | 89 | 0.00 | 0 / 349 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | Political party | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Volt UK | Leander Ots | 267 | 0.00 | 0 / 650 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| Year | Award | Section | Issuer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | EuroNederlander of 2018[224] | Volt Nederland | The European Movement Netherlands (EBN) |
| 2019 | Political Representative of the Year (2nd Place)[225][226] | Volt Europa | The Good Lobby |
From 14 to 19 July 2021, Volt Europa delegates travelled toYerevan,Armenia, to meet with representatives of theEuropean Party of Armenia.[227]
In November 2021, the Cypriot movementNew Wave – The Other Cyprus and Volt signed a memorandum of understanding for a merger.[228][229]
Boeselager was first elected to the EP in 2019 as Volt's first and – for a long time – only MEP. [...] The centrist party that he co-founded in 2017 was created to build "a counter-model to these right-wing populists who always say that we should go back to the nation state."
The German Volt was the first national branch of the centrist pan-European party to be founded in 2017.
It is the only environmentalist party that is pro-nuclear, as it is pro-growth parties that support nuclear energy.
[...] the show horse being a full-throated endorsement of nuclear energy. Rather than Euro-Federalism, the nuclear energy stance took center stage in the Volt campaign, and it gave the party a sense of progressive realism among the Dutch electorate. Volt's key thesis:If mainstream progressive parties think we can reach Paris without nuclear, then who are the idealists and who are the realists?
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