Volt Belgium (short name: Volt, , , ) is a political party in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It is part of the pan-European party

Volt Europa Volt Europa (known mononymously as Volt) is a transnational pro-European and Federalisation of the European Union, federalist European political alliances, European political movement. It operates as a Pan-European identity, pan-European umbrell ...

Policies

As part of the pan-European movement

, the party aims to solve current challenges and issues such as

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, migration and

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

through closer European cooperation. The party advocates for citizen participation and more transparency in politics. The programme focuses on democratic reforms, climate change and the creation of healthy ecosystems, the strengthening of social and labour rights and the consolidation of the EU in both economic and foreign policy terms.

European policy

The party aims to create a federal, united Europe. To do this, the party wants to strengthen the European Parliament and a European government and a European Prime Minister.

Defence policy

In order to increase the efficiency of

defence procurement Military acquisition or defense acquisition is the "bureaucratic management and procurement process", dealing with a nation's investments in the technologies, programs, and product support necessary to achieve its national security strategy and ...

, the party is striving for closer cooperation and joint procurement in the European Union.

Transparency

The party is in favour of measures to increase the transparency of political processes. In particular, it favours publicly available data. It also calls for more commitment to fighting

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and measures to regulate

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

activities. It also proposes warning systems and infringement procedures to combat violations of fundamental freedoms.

Immigration and asylum policy

Volt is in favour of a reform of immigration policy with a focus on integration that ensures "humane treatment.

History

Volt has been active in Belgium since 2017 and was officially founded as a party on 28 July 2018. The then 19-year-old Arno Sterck was elected chairman. It was the first national section of the paneuropean movement to participate in an election. In April 2022, the party elected the German-French Johanna Dirlewanger-Lücke and the German-Italian Carlo Giovanni Giudiceneue as new party leaders. At its election congress in October 2023, the party chose

Sophie in 't Veld Sophia Helena "Sophie" in 't Veld (born 13 September 1963) is a Dutch politician (Volt, previously D66). She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, and reelected in 2009, 2014 and 2019. She was D66's top candidate for the ...

for the Dutch-speaking electoral body and Suzana Carp for the French-speaking electoral body as its top candidates. In April 2024, a previously independent councillor from

Lebbeke Lebbeke () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the towns of , Lebbeke proper and . In 2021, Lebbeke had a total population of 19,560. The tot ...

joined the party, giving Volt its first mandate in Belgium.

Elections

2019

The party participated in the 2018 municipal elections in

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

(0,58 %) and

Etterbeek Etterbeek (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the Cit ...

(1,58 %), and on a list with the local

Pirate Party Pirate Party is a label adopted by various Political party, political parties worldwide that share a set of values and policies focused on Civil and political rights, civil rights in the digital age. The fundamental principles of Pirate Partie ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. In the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

, Volt only participated in the Dutch-language electoral college and received 0.48% of the vote. In the 2019 Belgian parliamentary election, Volt participated in the

constituency and received 1669 votes, representing 0.14 % of the vote in the constituency and 0.02 % of the vote nationally.

2024

The party took part in the

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

in the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, with lead candidates Sophie in 't Veld and Bram Vandeninden, a Dutch MEP who had defected from the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

party in the Netherlands. Despite the relatively high-profile lead candidate, Volt Belgium received 0.86% of the Dutch-speaking electoral college vote, or 38,713 votes, coming in last amongst the availailable lists. The party also took part in the national parliamentary elections and the regional elections in Brussels and Flanders. In the Federal election, Volt Belgium received 7,245 votes or 0.10% of the total votes. In elections for the Flemish parliament, Volt Belgium received 7,678 votes or 0.18% of the vote. In the Brussels regional election, they received 1,531 votes, or 0.39% of the vote. No Volt Belgium candidates were elected in any of these elections.

Organisation

The party is led by a dual leadership of a man and a woman.

Finances

For transparency reasons, the party has committed itself to publishing all donations exceeding 500 euros on its website. Volt spent 100 euros on social media advertising on Facebook and Instagram in 2021, and 250 euros in 2022.

Election results

Chamber of Representatives

European Parliament

References

External links

* Official website {{Volt Europa

Political parties in Belgium 2018 establishments in Belgium Political parties established in 2018 Pro-European political parties in Belgium