Volt in the Volkskrant

Volt is ready to conquer Europe

(Ariejan Korteweg – de Volkskrant – 19 December 2018)

Laurens, Jasper and Reinier want to enter Europe.

Volt is a new party that takes the European ideal literally. It wants to participate in the European elections under the same name and with the same programme in all countries of the EU - and it even has members in the non-EU countries Switzerland, Albania and Norway. “Bringing politics to a European level” is the ideal. Only the lists of candidates are national because the rules make that necessary – one of the flaws in the system that the party wants to tackle.

Last weekend, the party leader was elected and Jasper Munnichs, publicity manager of Volt, asked if the Volkskrant would like an exclusive interview. Not really, to be honest, was the response: let Volt first prove that it is more than a group of European citizens who want to expand their international network. Yet it continued to nag. Volt wants to take a logical step: to conquer Brussels from the outside with a pan-European party.

There are gadgets in abundance, yet there isn’t a purple Volt flag or sweater to be seen in the party office. The office is actually the living room of the freelancers who live here and Volt can use it for a small contribution. Hence the drying racks with washing in the corner. Above the desk is a horizontal Christmas tree, like a battering ram aimed at Brussels. In the beginning, insects fell out of it, says Jasper (25), but that has fortunately stopped.

Volt chooses European Parliament leadership candidate

Reinier van Lanschot (29) was selected as the party leader on Saturday, Laurens Dassen (33) is number 3. They have left their jobs at Ahold and the ABNAmro Bank respectively, Jasper has put his computer-science study on hold. Everything for Volt.

Since the establishment of the Dutch branch, six months ago, a lot has happened. There are local divisions as far apart as Barendrecht and Deventer, a group of 1,200 “supporters” has been formed, every Monday evening the Volt Academy gives an online lecture on the EU. There are “cross-border events” between Kleve and Nijmegen, or Maastricht and Aachen. And there are days when Volters look at the same subject in all European cities: “Fix the EU” or “Make Europe an economic powerhouse”.

We are swamped with ideas, they say. In all capitals, there’s a large clock indicating the number of days that peace has reigned in Europe: 26,889. Or you can fly across European borders in a purple hot-air balloon.

The aim: 25 MEPs, spread over at least seven countries - then you have your own political group. The conditions are favourable. Because you can Skype free with Bulgarians or Romanians and hold virtual meetings via Google Meet. And because everyone in their generation speaks reasonable English. “You can contribute from your computer at home.”

Party office with horizontal Christmas tree.

I’m curious about how we will be regarded in fifty years time, Reinier muses. A bit like Esperanto, fun but never applied on a large scale? “I think we are the beginning of much more. Just think: According to the Euro barometer, 79% of the Dutch think the EU is a good thing. While only 37% voted. That is where our options are.”

But what do you think of us, they enquire at a certain moment. Things like that. They never ask that in The Hague, they have the answers themselves. You are a “pioneering party”, I say. New political parties – Denk, PVV, FvD, 50Plus, Party for the Animals – are usually triggered by an outrage. For you everything is positive.

They nod. Volt is positive and progressive, wants to include shipping and aviation in the climate goals, finds camps for refugees in the snow morally reprehensible and wants to tackle the democratic deficit of Europe. “All together that’s enough to wind people up.”

Reinier returns to the topic of identity at the end. "The snack known as a hair salon," he says. (It’s a hotchpotch of chips, kebab, salad, cheese and lots of sauce – in the oven.) “I remember when I ate one for the first time: 1 January 2009. Delicious. Such a thing only exists here. That is also identity.”

Looking for a European snack? They nod.