Damian Boeselager, MEP and Co-founder of the pan-European movement Volt Europa, has been successfully negotiating the rules that determine how we vote in the EU elections (EU Electoral Act). He has been a driving force behind the proposal, which is very important for Europe.   MEPs want transnational lists and all countries to vote on 9 May

The new legal text contains many of Volt Europa’s proposals from the Amsterdam Declaration for changing the EU elections. These are: 

1. To have pan-European electoral lists leading to truly European elections
2. The possibility for pan-European movements to run on EU-wide ballots
3. For Women and men are to be equally represented on electoral lists via zipped lists or quotas
4. To have fairer access rules for parties and movements across the EU
5. Every 18-year old European can become a EU politician (This will change the list of candidates in Italy and Greece (until now the minimum age was 25), Romania (23), Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and Cyprus (21). 

For every MEP to be equally scrutinised as Volt Europa has established minimum democratic standards for selecting candidates and for registering a party or submitting a candidacy.

Volt Europa entered the European Parliament with the ambition to reform the EU. The reform of the European elections is the first step towards this goal! Below are five reasons on why we need this reform:

1.   We need true European democracy! Currently there are 27 national rules determining the outcome of the European elections. There is no European debate, no European accountability, no European demos! Giving Europeans a truly European vote will be a step towards alleviating the democratic deficit of the EU.

2.   Each vote needs to matter! Electoral thresholds exclude the voices of millions of people. Moreover, it goes against the principle of the equality of the vote!

3.   EU Politics need to become innovative and competitive. Allowing new political ideas to enter the political debate and decision-making makes politics more diverse and more innovative! 

4.   Make voting easy! Make sure that every European citizen, no matter if imprisoned, or far from home or not there on election day, homeless, or one with a handicap can vote!

MEPs want transnational lists and all countries to vote on 9 May 2022. Read more here.