European NATO fields two million personnel and spends almost 500 billion euros a year on defence, second only to the US, yet divided across 27 national efforts that add up to far less than the sum of their parts. The US has made a permanent strategic reorientation to the Indo-Pacific, with bipartisan consensus behind it, and is shifting the burden for Europe's conventional defence onto Europeans, unpredictably and on its own timeline. Russia has both the capability and the imperial ambition to test this transition with a direct attack on an EU Member State, possibly well before 2030. Even a limited ground incursion leaves the EU and NATO hours, not days, to prevent a fait accompli and thus at least the end of NATO. NATO 3.0 must therefore become a two-pillar alliance: American and European, equal not just in capabilities but in political control. That European pillar does not yet exist.

What this blueprint proposes is not an academic ‘’European Army’’, but a counterpart, or eventual replacement, to what US European Command (EUCOM) is today. A ''primus inter pares'' or ‘’operating system’’ glueing together the component parts of European NATO in a double-hatted role, separable, but not separate from NATO. It does not ask Europeans to replicate the US 1-for-1. It asks Europeans to build the one thing no single member state can buy on its own: a politically united centre of gravity for theatre-wide, credible collective deterrence and defence, that can be dynamically scaled up over time, in conditions of peace, war, and in between.

That center of gravity rests on six building blocks, sequenced by urgency and deterrence effect. First, a European Security Council, the political mandate-giver without which nothing else can act fast enough. Second, the operationalisation of article 42.7, so that European deterrence signalling becomes credible rather than theoretical. Third, a European Military Headquarters, providing the theatre-wide command and control that no Joint Force Command or the JEF can replicate alone. Fourth, a European Military Intelligence Center, the eyes and ears without which no political-military decision can be timely, accurate or accountable. Fifth, European Strategic Enablers: capabilities, from air-to-air refuelling to integrated air and missile defence, too expensive for any single state to field alone. Sixth, a European Rapid Reaction Force, able to eject an initial attack from European territory which prevents the need for a long attritional war.

Europe's defence problem is not mass or money: it is the absence of a political center of gravity. What this blueprint proposes is not an academic ‘’European Army’’, but a counterpart, or eventual replacement, to what US European Command (EUCOM) is today.

Read the full article here.

By Reinier van Lanschot, Volt MEP.

✅  What happened last month:

• [Campaigns] Volt is kickstarting the “We are the 1 Million” which already has over 4,500 initial signatures! If you haven’t signed yet, do so now and become a part of the change! More info on We are the 1 Million and background info why we are doing this for 2029.

• [Politics] Sven visited the Bled Strategic Forum 2026 representing Volt Europa with our Volt Slovenija team. Rewatch his panel on “Can Europe evolve from regulatory to geopolitical power”. His summary is: Federalism and European integration are the answer to nationalism and isolation. We need real European parties, because their thinking and actions do not stop at national borders and they offer a platform for real European leaders. The first and only real European party is Volt Europa.

• [Campaigns] Inês was interviewed for a Portuguese top tier magazine, talking about the board elections and we are the 1 million. Read more here: "Portuguese Woman at the Helm of Volt Europa” (in Portuguese).

• [Politics] Saxony-Anhalt elections (AfD 45%): Volt Europa responded to the AfD’s landslide victory in Saxony-Anhalt. The rise of nationalist parties reflects the failure of traditional national politics to deliver solutions to Europe’s shared challenges. Your Co-Presidents call for deeper European integration and stronger common policies on security, defence, migration and the economy as an alternative to political isolation and nationalism.

• [Politics] Sven visited Braderie in Lille, Europe's biggest flea market and big political event where Volt holds its own booth every year. Jean-Luc Melenchon spoke at the event in front of a record crowd. There is a real risk of him making the runoff against Marine Le Pen - two anti-European candidates and something we as Volt should try and rally against.

• [Politics] Sven has attended the Jean Monnet Associations “Houjarray Foresight” talks, which brought together experts from all over Europe,  including the Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, with a shared task: how to make innovation a staple of European power. 

🔮 Coming up:

• [Politics] Inês has been organising the Launch of the Housing ECI in Portugal with a big event in Lisbon coming up on the 27th of October. Stay tuned for that!

📅  Events for your calendar:

• The State of the European Union happened last Wednesday. Sven and Inês went live in the evening to re-watch it together, addressing and discussing what Urusla von der Leyen said. And what not. Find the recording of your co-Presidents here: https://youtube.com/live/FvxERbnWU_0?feature=share. 

Follow their socials to get more information about their activity and receive updates on when they will be live: Sven on LinkedIn and Instagram and Inês on LinkedIn and Instagram.

• The ECI Right to Housing is starting to hold launching events from today until Monday, 5 October. Led by Volt Europa and House Europe alongside civil society groups, we aim to collect at least one million signatures across the EU to legally oblige the European Commission to act on the housing crisis. Join us! Read more here: Right to Housing.

📚 Good reads to break a long workday:

• Don’t underestimate the AfD, learn from them (in German). A good article on political communication, hammering through a simple, single message and why other parties are failing to compete.

• A Right to Housing. A policy paper from the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose’s (UCL IIPP) to get ready and inspired for the launch of our ECI Right to Housing starting collecting signatures from Monday, 14, September.

• Wars, Guns, and Votes. For those who would like to know more about democracy, how the systems we have today formed and why they haven't formed in other countries across the world. “His evidence-based approach is a worthwhile corrective to the assumptions about democracy that too often tend to dominate when Western policy makers talk about the bottom billion.”

📰 Volt In the press:

Media highlights from last week. Translations in your language and more press coverage available on Haiilo’s Volt in the Press section - collected by Jacob Lippold since 2022

• (Germany/Frankfurt) Frankfurt’s new government takes office, with Volt retaining a key role – Volt’s Eileen O’Sullivan becomes part of Frankfurt’s new city government as Head of Digital Affairs, highlighting Volt’s growing role in local executive government (29.08.2026)

• (Czechia) AI hacking attacks? The machine was just testing where the carpenter had left a gap – Volt politician and former MEP Mikuláš Peksa discusses recent AI security incidents, arguing for effective cybersecurity protocols rather than fear-driven responses to increasingly capable AI systems (26.08.2026)

• (Europe/Ukraine) Amsterdam Volt leader says Ukraine is defending Europe’s security against Russian aggression – Following a visit to Odesa, Amsterdam Volt leader Juliette Broersen argues that Ukraine’s defence against Russia is directly linked to European security, bringing a Dutch Volt voice into international coverage of the war (26.08.2026)

• (Europe) Locking 27 leaders in a castle and thinking they will deliver a good outcome is a categorical mistake - Interview with Damian Boeselager (09.08.2026)

💡 Chapter and local team spotlight:

• In August we strengthened our role in German local government, by retaining key executive responsibilities in both Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. In Frankfurt, Eileen O’Sullivan joined the new city government as Head of Digital Affairs, while in Wiesbaden, Maral Koohestanian remained Head of Digitalisation under the new CDU-led coalition. We are growing our ability to translate electoral success into governmental positions at local level!

Enjoy your summer break!

Your Executive Team 💜 

Brussels September 16, 2026 – Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is hosting her annual State of the European Union (SOTEU) with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attending. With the European Union being threatened from within its borders and beyond, the SOTEU would be a moment to rally citizens behind deeper European integration to respond to these threats.

The past weeks have shown Europe’s political shortcomings. The Commission preferred to remain silent during the Iceland referendum making joining the EU a question of marginal added value and conflict over fisheries. As a result, the momentum in Norway is gone. The joint accession of Montenegro and Iceland to preempt member state vetoes is off the table. And Greenland became more exposed to the United States. This echoes Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar's criticism during the recent Bled Strategic Forum, who rightfully claimed that Europe is lacking political leadership.

Sven Franck, Co-President of Volt Europa: “In this new geopolitical order, the Commission cannot pretend that just being a regulatory power is enough. We might be witnessing the end of the European Union with its legitimacy being put into question by foreign actors and nationalist governments alike. If this was the Commission's last stand, would you make it about Omnibus regulation or about political leadership? Why not rally citizens to demand that their government take the European project further? If the SOTEU is about future regulatory acts, talk to the Parliament. But if Europe’s future is on the line, President von der Leyen, who once had the ambition to lead a political Commission, should be talking to the people.”

There are attempts to break the deadlock of national governments holding the Commission back: Kaja Kallas' initiative on a “Draghi plan for Defence” however was quickly shot down by the German, French and Italian governments — the same governments who tirelessly reference the Draghi plan while dragging their feet when it comes to implementing its recommendations and providing the European Union with the necessary budget and competencies to act.

Inês Bravo Figueiredo, Co-President of Volt Europa: "Small internal differences cannot keep stopping us from working towards what we actually agreed to build together. Member states handed the Commission plenty of power, but never the mandate to lead and that is obvious when we look at Kaja Kallas' initiative for a “European defence” being rejected. Instead of building Europe's future, we spend our energy managing its internal peace. We keep choosing not to commit, and every time we do, we push back the day Europe can stand on its own on the world stage.”

Mark Carney’s visit gives the Commission a new opportunity. But instead of embracing allies coming to the European Union’s side, the Commission president considered not attending Mark Carney’s landmark speech to the European Parliament and proposal to pursue an alliance with the European Union - before making a U-turn.

Damian Boeselager, Volt Europa MEP: “There is clearly momentum, and Europe should respond to it. A remarkably large share of Canadians want their country to explore closer ties with the EU, and there is considerable openness to the idea on the European side as well. We have to stop defining Europe geographically and start defining it geostrategically. Canada is one of the countries with which Europeans have the strongest basis for a much deeper partnership. Instead of starting with all the reasons why something is impossible, we should start by asking what we can build together.”

About Volt

Volt is the first European political party active in over 30 countries and committed to work towards a united, democratic and sustainable Europe. With policies based on innovation, sustainability and social justice, Volt focuses on concrete solutions that draw on examples of European best practice and are adapted to national circumstances. Volt advocates a modern, cosmopolitan society in which the challenges of the future are tackled collectively and without ideological barriers. With numerous elected representatives at local, regional, national and European levels, Volt is one of the fastest-growing political movements in Europe and the first true European party.

For interview requests and further information, please contact:

Michael Schneider, Public Relations MEP Office
Michael.schneider@europarl.europa.eu / +49 176 76645446

Špela Majcen Marušič, Public Relations
spela.majcen@volteuropa.org / +386 70 868 457

Jacob Lippold, Press Officer
eurpress@volteuropa.org

Everyone Deserves the Right to Housing. Now and Forever.

Workers can no longer afford the cities they work in. Young people remain trapped living in their parents' homes. Tenants are pushed out of their neighbourhoods after building renovations, leaving empty properties while people sleep on the streets. The current housing market is putting profit before people.

This crisis does not stop at national borders. Key policy drivers originate at the European level, which means the solution must be European, too.

It does not have to be this way. The buildings already exist, as do the solutions to make them liveable and affordable. What is missing are EU-wide rules to fix the market: stop housing speculation, convert vacant properties, boost sustainable renovation, guarantee long-term rent affordability, and establish an EU Housing Agency to coordinate policy across Member States.

We Need 1 Million Signatures to Force EU Action - Sign now!

Volt Europa, House Europe, and housing initiatives across Europe are leading an official European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) to demand housing justice. The ECI is a democratic instrument that legally obliges the European Commission to respond if 1 million EU citizens sign.

We are aiming for 1.2 million signatures to secure a bulletproof campaign. Signature collection starts September 14 2026—add your voice to put the right to affordable housing on the EU political agenda.

Want to bring your organisation into our growing European coalition? Get in touch to partner with us.

Brussels September 7, 2026 - Yesterday the German AfD won the regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt by a landslide. No longer a phenomenon in Eastern Germany but across Europe and with key national elections in France, Italy and Poland coming up next year, democratic parties are running out of options after having run out of ideas and the will to move the European project forward a long time ago.

The issue is obvious: Can any individual member state thrive without European integration? Will there be safety from hybrid threats, economic coercion, and war without a European foreign and defense policy? Can any member state really claim to manage who enters and leaves its territory without European border protection and a joint immigration system? Whether it’s start-ups leaving for the US because no member state is willing to give up its national stock exchange or businesses having to register their packaging with 27 authorities to ship to clients in other EU member states - the success of the AfD is the failure of national parties to integrate.

Sven Franck, Co-President of Volt Europa: “The solutions citizens expect from politics, also in Saxony-Anhalt, require a stronger Europe. Show me a national party that is willing to delegate the necessary powers to the European level. What’s holding them back? Their unwillingness paralyzes the continent, giving space to forces such as the AfD. We will only halt their rise with true European parties dedicated to taking the European project forward. We have to choose between isolation and integration.”

Inês Bravo Figueiredo, Co-President of Volt Europa: "The consequences of these elections will not stop at Germany’s borders. At a time when Europe is facing war, hybrid threats and an increasingly dangerous security environment, the rest of Europe depends on Germany being willing and able to stand with its European partners. If Germany turns inward, Europe becomes weaker. We need Volt because Europe cannot afford 27 national security calculations, political hedging or governments putting national interests ahead of our collective security. We need a Europe that acts together, spends together and defends itself together. European security cannot be a matter of political convenience. It must be a commitment.”

With elections in German regions Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin coming up, the question is not whether to abolish the AfD. It’s whether governments will get away with lip-serving populist nationalism with absurd border controls, national egoisms in defense spending and an economic policy in denial of ecological and business realities..

Damian Boeselager, Volt Europa MEP: “The democratic parties need to understand that their own hesitation and foot-dragging have played a major part in this defeat. Those who think in narrow-minded, nationalist terms, drag their feet on reforms and use politics for their own self-promotion end up paving the way for the populists. We can see this clearly in the European Parliament: the strategy of flirting with the right does not work. And the failure to deliver real change has only made the AfD stronger and stronger. It is time for a paradigm shift. We finally need to think more European and more progressively, drive tangible change and offer all democrats a credible way forward. That must be the lesson we take from this state election.”

About Volt

Volt is the first European political party active in over 30 countries and committed to work towards a united, democratic and sustainable Europe. With policies based on innovation, sustainability and social justice, Volt focuses on concrete solutions that draw on examples of European best practice and are adapted to national circumstances. Volt advocates a modern, cosmopolitan society in which the challenges of the future are tackled collectively and without ideological barriers. With numerous elected representatives at local, regional, national and European levels, Volt is one of the fastest-growing political movements in Europe and first true European party.

For interview requests and further information, please contact:

Jacob Lippold, Press Officer, eurpress@volteuropa.org

On 18 August 2026, ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senior Trial Lawyer at the ICC, were sanctioned. These sanctions will freeze their United States assets and restrict their access not only to US based companies and payment providers such as Visa and Mastercard, but also, through secondary sanctions and overcompliance, to European companies and bank accounts.

These new sanctions are not an isolated development. They are part of an ongoing campaign by the United States to systematically dismantle the ICC. In September 2020, the first Trump administration sanctioned Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and a senior prosecution official; former US-President Biden lifted those measures in 2021. The second Trump administration resumed the campaign in February 2025, sanctioning Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan and four judges in June 2025. On 20 August 2025, the United States had already imposed sanctions on four other senior ICC officials: Judge Kimberly Prost of Canada, Judge Nicolas Guillou of France, and Deputy Prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal. Two additional judges were sanctioned in December 2025, and now President Tomoko Akane as the first sitting ICC President ever to be sanctioned. Nine of the Court's 18 judges, both Deputy Prosecutors and the former Chief Prosecutor are now under US sanctions.

The latest sanctions against Court President Tomoko Akane and Abdoulaye Seye of the Office of the Prosecutor exert undue institutional pressure on ICC leadership. Media reports indicate that the US government is justifying these measures primarily on the grounds of ICC investigations into representatives of states that do not recognize the Court’s jurisdiction, including proceedings concerning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as members of the US armed forces. Vladimir Putin, who is himself wanted on an ICC arrest warrant, stands to benefit from the campaign, while Russia has become one of its contributors, convicting ICC judges and prosecutors in absentia. As a result, major investigations aimed at bringing justice to victims of war crimes from Afghanistan, Mali, and Sudan are at risk of being undermined. 

Volt Europa strongly condemns these sanctions

The International Criminal Court is a supranational institution of international law. Its purpose is to ensure that the gravest international atrocities, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, can be investigated and prosecuted independently of national political power relations across the globe.

When judges and prosecutors are subjected to economic sanctions simply because their investigations and judicial decisions run counter to the interests of a powerful state, a dangerous precedent is set. International law must not apply only when it aligns with the interests of powerful government actors. The United States has moved from refusing to be bound by the Rome Statute to actively undermining its operation: targeting sanctions against its officers for merely doing their job, campaigning for state parties to leave the statute, and dispensing with international justice. 

Europe must act decisively now

Volt Europa has already called for European protection of the ICC in response to previous US sanctions. In light of this renewed escalation, we explicitly reaffirm that position.

The European Commission and the Council should immediately extend the EU Blocking Statute to protect the ICC from sanctions against its representatives by adding US Executive Order 14203 to its annex, so that EU entities are legally prohibited from complying with these extraterritorial sanctions. The Annex can be and has been amended before under Article 1(2) without veto rights of single member states. At Volt, we have already called for such action. That this issue is only being addressed now shows the EU has wasted valuable time and lacked the political will to challenge the status quo. After the European Parliament including several member states called for the extension in 2025, the Commission rolled back the position  in February 2026, stating that an amendment was merely “under consideration.” European banks, payment service providers, companies and other institutions need clear legal guidelines to ensure continued cooperation with the ICC and avoid exposure to economic pressure from extraterritorial US sanctions.

Financial support must reach the people whom sanctions actually cut off. The EU and its Member States should strengthen the financial support for the ICC and those affected by sanctions by providing them with funds, goods and services to alleviate the harmful financial effect. This includes setting up a special purpose fund and directly providing emergency cash assistance to any person affected by sanctions so that the sanctions are rendered ineffective. The EU should use Article 14 of the 2006 EU-ICC Cooperation and Assistance Agreement to provide the services the Court needs to keep its officials functioning, and should, together with the Assembly of States Parties,  establish a resilience fund at the Court under Article 116 of the Rome Statute for the benefit of sanctioned judges and prosecutors.

No government should be able to use economic or political pressure to erode international law and to determine which international investigations may be conducted and which may not.

The EU and its Member States should therefore:

• strengthen the legal protection of the ICC and its representatives against extraterritorial sanctions;

• extend the EU Blocking Statute to cover the US sanctions against the ICC;

• provide European banks, companies and payment service providers with clear legal guarantees for their cooperation with the ICC;

• publicly and unequivocally defend the independence of its judges and the Office of the Prosecutor;

• coordinate with the other member states party to the Rome Statute in order to jointly counter further attacks on the Court; 

• strengthen Europe’s strategic sovereignty by limiting dependence on financial and payment services and technical infrastructure that can be unilaterally withdrawn or constrained from outside the EU ; and,

• strengthen the financial support for the ICC and those affected by sanctions. 

The latest sanctions once again demonstrate why Europe must take its strategic autonomy seriously. If access to international financial and payment systems can be used as an instrument of political pressure, this affects not only individual persons and institutions, but undermines Europe’s ability to implement its own legal principles and political decisions independently.

Volt Europa stands for a Europe that defends the rule of law, human rights and international law through its institutions

The European Union cannot credibly advocate for a rules-based international order while simultaneously allowing independent international courts to be weakened through economic and political intimidation.

The sanctions against the President of the ICC and a senior representative of the Office of the Prosecutor evince more than a mere dispute between the United States and the Court. They are an attempt to dismantle the Court’s ability to administer justice independent of the influence of geopolitical power.  

The EU and the States Parties to the Rome Statute must resolutely protect the institutions of the rules-based international order. The EU is bound by its own treaties to found itself upon the rule of law and human rights (Article 2 TEU) and to promote those values and the strict observance of international law in its external action (Articles 3 and 21 TEU), of which the Rome Statute and the ICC are core elements. Anyone who seeks to defend international justice must not allow judges and prosecutors to be intimidated through political or economic sanctions. Europe must act collectively and decisively now to defend its own values.

If people serving our institutions are going to be denied access to basic services by the US, then we will have to ensure that no one in the EU or in any international organisation is dependent on those services.

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜 

We refuse to accept a Europe that defaults to suspending fundamental human rights, threatening to shut down Schengen, or paying authoritarian regimes to act as our outsourced border police. Ceuta’s tragedy is not just Spain’s problem: it is a direct symptom of a deeply dysfunctional European migration system.

Giorgia Meloni won elections by blaming Italy’s isolation during the Lampedusa migration crisis. And she had a point. However, while claiming to "defend European culture," in the moment of crisis she shut the doors and left Spain alone.

This proves that Meloni and politicians like her have never cared about protecting Europe – and we hope that those who voted for them out of fear of an invasion reconsider their trust.

At the same time, we must address the irresponsible messaging from the Sánchez government. While recent attempts to host and legalize migrants might have been well-intentioned, probably no European leader can fully understand the daily despair of the people coming from the African continent and the lack of information and guidance that they face.

What happened was a predictable consequence of good intentions, instrumentalised by online disinformation campaigns that vilified those seeking a better life. We must learn from what happened in Ceuta: to combat irregular migration, we must be humane with migrants and tough with the criminals who smuggle them. We must create legal routes of access to Europe and fight human trafficking.

A Mandatory European Distribution Mechanism

We cannot expect border cities like Ceuta to manage crises of this magnitude alone. We advocate for abolishing the first-entry country principle and activating a mandatory solidarity system for distributing migrants across all EU Member States, based on their respective GDP and population.

Defend Schengen at All Costs

Closing internal borders within the European Union is populism. Freedom of movement without borders within the Schengen area is one of the greatest achievements of the European project – EU citizens experience it on a daily basis. Volt strongly opposes internal border controls introduced by a number of Member States and views them as a violation of European law. The response to migratory pressure lies in community cooperation, local integration, and giving asylum seekers work authorization from day one.

We Cannot Leave Spain Alone with the Maghreb Regimes

The current strategy of the European Union regarding border control and migrant readmission largely relies on cooperation agreements with Maghreb countries, such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. In practice, the EU has "externalized" migration management, transforming the Maghreb region into an extension of European border policy.

Volt firmly opposes the European Union's practice of financing and delegating the control of migratory routes to North African countries. Using these countries as a border blockade has created a hostile environment in which migrants are stranded without protection and vulnerable to trafficking networks, physical abuse, and slavery. Often, these practices are backed by the regimes with which we make these agreements – and which we pay with European taxpayers' money for enforcement.

End of the "Bargaining Chip" Logic

Current European policy attempts to incentivize partners, such as Morocco and Tunisia, to readmit irregular migrants in exchange for easier European visas. Financial aid, access to visas, and development cooperation must be structurally decoupled from these control policies.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Morocco%E2%80%93Spain_border_incident#/media/File:Pedro_S%C3%A1nchez,_con_representantes_de_las_Fuerzas_y_Cuerpos_de_Seguridad_del_Estado_en_la_frontera_del_Tarajal.jpg 

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜 

9 Challenges

Moving beyond the post-World War II bipolar world order, we are faced today with a more complex, multipolar and layered reality: a world of multiple modernities, where the Western model led by US hegemony is only one possible offer among several. The international architecture built after 1945, based on shared rules, international law, and multilateral institutions, is under unprecedented strain. What we are witnessing is not a temporary disruption but a structural crisis, accelerated by recent destabilisations and escalating contradictions driven among others by shifts in US foreign policy, the rise of China, the return of Russian expansionism, and the growing weight of the Global South. Two major shifts have reshaped the world since the end of the Cold War: the rise of China as a global power, and, far less expected and most recent, a deep and possibly irreversible break in Europe's relationship with the United States.

READ FULL PAPER

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜.

✅  What happened last month:

• [Organisation] We followed the recommendation of the Electoral Commission and appointed Federico Moscoguri to complete the Board. Congratulations and welcome 🥳

• [Organisation] The Board and General Secretaries met for their first Board retreat in Brussels. On the agenda: Team Building - because it makes a world of a difference to meet in person - and our strategy for becoming the first true European Party, which we will break down into six-months intervals with concrete priorities to turn Shine 29 goals into reality. More on this soon.

• [Organisation] Want to know more about the values that drive us? You can read our inaugural communication here.

• [Chapters] The Belgian Constitutional Court has ruled that it’s unconstitutional for candidates to have no legal avenue to challenge the rejection of their list. This stems from our list being barred in the French speaking region of Belgium in the European elections of 2024. The online platform for EU citizens to sign towards the 5.000 signature threshold rejected valid signatures of EU citizens which Suzana Carp, our lead candidate back then, contested in court. More on the story in Brussels Times.

• [Elections] Volt Berlin launched their “Unf*ck Berlin” campaign for the September 20th regional elections and are looking for followers on social media (subscribe to their Insta here: link). This is a big campaign in which Volt Germany is testing a different approach.

• [Politics] Sven’s interview with Youtuber Jonas Laursen is online. Why do we have to create our reality as the only European party? What is our flavor of federalism? Are we left and do we want right equivalents of Volt? We have 15k views, watch the interview to get it to 20k. It will also show other Youtubers that Volt creates engaging content.

• [Politics] Inês’ podcast on “É muito novo mas…”, and interviewed by Tji a Portuguese Youtuber talking politics and her role as co-president - listen in to both if your Portuguese permits.

• [Parliament] Reinier was appointed Rapporteur for the CADA (Cloud and AI Development Act (see his post). It helps talking with Antonio Costa and let’s not forget kudos for Kai for becoming Rapporteur for the Rail Ticketing Regulation (link).

• [Politics] Inês met Vula Tsetsi, Co-Chair of the European Green Party. Volt's MEPs sit alongside the European Greens in the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament.

• [Politics] Sven published an op-ed in Dutch Trouw with Laurens and Reinier on Rob Jetten “Nein, No, Non” to the next EU budget. It’s important to start holding national parties accountable, if they talk “stronger Europe” at home and then do the opposite once elected on European level. 

• [Organisation] We have finalised the General Assembly Minutes from Bratislava .

🔮 Coming up next month

• [Organisation] We will switch to our annual holiday mode during the month of August. “Holiday mode” means you should not plan your life around calls, but take some time off to recharge your batteries and avoid getting a sunburn instead of burning out. We will kick back into gear from September onwards - starting with publishing our Strategy for 2026-2029.

• [Politics] Sven will speak on the Bled Strategic Forum on "Can Europe Become a Strategic Power?” August 31 and at the European Forum for New Ideas in Sopot, Poland October 14-16 on “European Democracy: Is the Liberal Order Sustainable?” 

• [Vacancies] We're still recruiting executive assistants for Inês and Sven (see here) plus we are looking for help in many other volunteer roles (see here).

📅  Events for your calendar

• We’re holding our monthly “Welcome to the Board Talk” open call for our members with our Co-presidents. Next session: Tuesday, 28/07 and Thursday 27/08 at 20h CET. The link to the event is available via Livestorm

📚 Good reads for your vacation 

• The five name changes that would make the EU more honest. Who dares to say “President of Europe”? Sylvain Kahn's book "Europe: A State Unaware of Itself" describes all the ways European leaders have used confusing language to hide the fact that the EU is a federal state.

• A Philosopher’s One-Word Theory to Explain Why the World Feels So Weird - the uni-context and why it focuses bad over good, identity over character and the marketization of everything.
  

📰 Volt In the press

Media highlights from last week. Translations in your language and more press coverage available on Haiilo’s Volt in the Press section - collected by Jacob Lippold since 2022

• Europe’s 27 leaders to take on AI - finally - remember Reinier meeting EU Council President Antonio Costa a few weeks ago demanding an AI Summit. Seems we made the right call at the right time (21.07.)

• Expresso (PT) Chat Control: Would this spell the end of paper envelopes? - if Manfred Weber and the Conservatives vote for mass surveillance of online messengers, why don’t they also abolish paper envelopes? By Inês and Sven (14.07.)

• Lucca in Diretta (IT) - The climate emergency is a reality, not a political ploy - Interview with Volt’s Alessandro Bassetti on how climate change doesn’t care for the polarization of the extreme-right and that local citizens need actual solutions. (08.07.)

💡 Chapter and local team spotlight

Volt Poland and Volt Germany have joined forces to protest against the ongoing German border controls by financing a billboard on the border advocating for removing the illegal controls - if you want to support them, superboost their Instagram post.

Article 25 and 26 of the Schengen regulations clearly state that internal border controls may only be introduced temporarily when there is a serious threat to public safety or internal security and as a last resort after less restrictive measures have failed. They have been declared illegal, German border police itself questions the adequacy and cost and although the EU Asylum system was implemented, interior minister Dobrind still doesn’t blink. It’s a great cross-border initiative and if Volt figured out a way to create enough public pressure to make the border controls fall, we would certainly make a big step forward in terms of public recognition.

Enjoy your summer break!

Your Executive Team

Despite the sour note left by the European Commission's decision regarding the “Stop Killing Games” initiative, many gamers and consumers now see the EU as the only entity capable of halting Sony’s plan to phase out physical games by 2028. They fear this shift will give the PlayStation parent company absolute control over the digital licenses for the games, movies, and media it hosts – and we consume. 

This is not just a video game issue. It is a consumer rights and cultural access issue. Volt Europa is fully aligned with these principles, alongside the defense of the right to cultural property, as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

No to techno-feudalism!

Software publishers must not have the right to unilaterally and permanently deactivate products consumers have already paid for. For Volt, when you buy a game, you are purchasing a product, not merely a license that can be revoked at any moment. 

We are profoundly disappointed by the response from Michael McGrath, the EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law, and Consumer Protection. He stated that the EU cannot legally compel companies to keep servers active indefinitely or manufacture physical media – speaking as though his hands are tied and the Commission is entirely powerless to regulate these corporate practices. 

The Commissioner’s answer is depressing, especially given that some of these corporate practices already challenge laws that are currently in place across our Union.

Let’s call this what it is: corporate deception. Right now, gaming giants are exploiting consumers through hostile market practices: subjecting players to sudden, unannounced digital rug-pulls, locking them out of fully paid-for games and wiping media libraries. This directly violates the EU’s Consumer Rights Directive, which mandates transparent terms.

Worse, they rely on blatantly misleading ownership claims, trapping buyers with dishonest "Buy" or "Own" buttons on digital storefronts for products they know they can revoke at any time. These companies routinely ignore legal warranty windows under the Digital Content Directive. Pocketing €70 for a new release only to shutter its servers months later is a bad-faith breach of contract that entitles players to full refunds.

This isn't just poor customer service – it is a systematic, law-bending assault on consumer ownership. The EU created these laws, and the EU must enforce them and hold violators accountable. If lawmakers can regulate complex tech industries, surely they can address this simpler case: allowing consumers to download their games and providing a clear answer to the question, "How can I keep the game I paid for when the servers go dark?"

What can we do?

Volt will work to integrate video game preservation requirements into the upcoming Digital Fairness Act, alongside developing a comprehensive code of conduct for the "end-of-life" management of video games.

Defeating this Final Boss requires working together, and there are two ways you can join us.

First, let’s summon our allies. To secure consumer access to games and combat the arbitrary control of digital licensing, as citizens we can – and should – act collectively alongside our elected representatives and do the following:

• Support lobbying and advocacy in the European Parliament: As activists and allied MEPs target the European Parliament, citizens need to engage directly with their MEPs to urge them to amend the Digital Fairness Act, securing firm protections against arbitrary game shutdowns.

• Report abuses to consumer rights organizations: if you lose access to a purchased game without adequate prior warning or before the timeframe stipulated in your contract, report it immediately to your national consumer authority (such as DECO Proteste in Portugal) or to European networks like BEUC, The European Consumer Organization. This equips the respective legal teams with the evidence needed to demand refunds for transparency breaches.

Second, of course, is to join the one true European party and become a member of Volt Europa 💜 https://volt.team/simple-join/en

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜 

Remembering Srebrenica

On July 11, 1995, Bosnian Serb units and paramilitary forces overran Srebrenica, despite its designation as a UN safe area. In a brutal and calculated operation, families were torn apart as women and children were systematically separated from the men. Over the course of several days, more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were executed. This atrocity was later classified by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia as the first legally recognised genocide in Europe since World War II.

We also remember the siege of Sarajevo, the vibrant "Jerusalem of the Balkans," a city of rich plurality where diverse traditions lived together in harmony, and we honour the acts of solidarity and courage that defied the nationalist narratives before the Bosnian War.

The broader tragedy of the conflicts following the dissolution of Yugoslavia serves as a stark warning of what happens when identities are weaponised. Before the conflict, many lived side by side, especially children who were often unaware if they were Croats, Serbs, or Bosniaks. Yet, the war violently calcified these distinctions, turning neighbours against each other and making a pluralistic identity deadly.

Nationalism and inaction

This toxic nationalism was fuelled by dehumanising language that tragically even influenced the passive UN forces meant to protect the vulnerable. Nowhere is this more chillingly preserved than in the infamous, misogynistic graffiti regarding Bosniak women left by UN Dutch battalion peacekeepers on the walls of their base, exposed now at the Srebrenica memorial.
Women, in particular, bore a horrific burden, subjected to systematic violence, rape, and the agony of families being permanently fractured.
This dark chapter stands as a crucial reminder that fostering multi-identity societies is a fundamental necessity for peaceful coexistence.

A lesson for all of us
Europe needs to show empathy towards other conflicts: our own continent has been deeply torn apart by division, the discrimination of minorities, and bloody wars. Yet, the ongoing journey of European integration, justice, peace, and coexistence has shown us a way to overcome this dark past.
Many roads can lead to peace, still reconciliation, acknowledging mistakes, forgiving, but not forgetting is necessary to create new bonds of trust and understanding.
We believe this journey remains a valuable lesson that we must continue to share with the wider world.

For Volt Europa, a pan-European party that bridges different people across our continent, this remembrance serves as a direct reminder of our core pledge: never again. 

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜

Member States are indeed earmarking billions for defence, but, to the detriment of their populations, not as members of a European Defence Union. They are spending it individually, without European coordination, without a common strategy, without a comprehensive vision of how those billions of euros would ultimately realise European security and deterrence. This risks not only irresponsible wasting of tax payer money, it will simply not deliver the security Europeans need. Volt believes we cannot continue like this. And we are not alone – leading with a group of 30 MEPs, we demand a true European Defence Union. It is high-time for the EU to make common European defence a reality, honouring our own treaties, which lay down the legal groundwork, already specifying mutual European defence obligations.

Europe should have no illusions: US military equipment comes with clear limits on sovereign operability. For example, the US-manufactured F-35 fighter jet currently still purchased and operated by a range of member states for around 100M€ per piece, is, reportedly, if not connected to a server in the United States, just expensive scrap metal. In times as uncertain as these, where decisions by a US President are made on whim, Volt asks if Europe can still afford to be dependent on the United States for critical defence assets. Especially in light of the FCAS fiasco where Germany and France got lost in their national defence industries’ bickering over competencies for years, only to scrap the entire development of a European next generation fighter, Volt demands Member States not only to acknowledge that our defence has to be European, but to make that said European defence a reality with the creation of a European Military under the command of a European Minister of Defence. Existing provisions in the EU Treaty should be used now and without further delay.

For Volt, NATO’s Ankara summit is a reminder that Europe can no longer rely solely on the Alliance for its security. While NATO leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to collective defence, recent policy announcements by the US administration, such as the 2025 US National Security Strategy, have severely undermined the credibility of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. At the same time, Russia’s full-out war against Ukraine and the continued hybrid aggression towards Europe underline the urgency for the EU to strengthen her own defences.

Volt strongly believes that now is the time for Europe to take bold action towards the creation of the European Defence Union. Equipped with its own armed forces and command structures it can guarantee the freedom and security on our continent. Such a Union should strive to be on equal footing to the US, both inside and outside of NATO, as partners with equal say.

The European Union Treaty contains a number of provisions that already allow - without treaty change – for significant progress towards the longer term goal of a European Defence Union. Against this background Volt Europa calls on European leaders to:

• Start a process leading to Common Defence in accordance with Art 42.2 TEU (which does not require treaty change)

• Emphasise obligations under the mutual defence clause of Art 42.7 TEU („by all the means in their power“), thereby reinforcing Europe’s sovereignty and adding to deterrence 

• Encourage the use of Permanent Structured Cooperation to accelerate defence integration, while remaining open for all Member States to join when they are ready

• Revisit and strengthen with NATO the „Berlin Plus“ Arrangements that would allow the EU to use NATO assets and capabilities

• Coordinate the EU Member States’ defence spending and procurement to ensure investments align with EU-wide strategic priorities, increase efficiency and avoid costly duplications. 

• Develop a European defence industry to ensure strategic autonomy in armaments and technology

• Reform decision-making also in EU defence policy by ending national vetoes and empowering a European Defence Minister
  

Most of these measures require only courage: The courage of European leaders to back their demands for a stronger Europe with concrete actions and the courage to look beyond their national borders for the common European good. With the geopolitical certainties in tatters and faced with the global rise of authoritarian strong-men, this is the courage that will not only safeguard Europe but that will also ensure that the EU can actively contribute to a world where international law and democracy count more than nationalist interests and the law of the jungle. 

Image source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/07/07/nato-defense-trump-contracts-spending-turkey-summit/

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜 

This is why at the Ankara summit, NATO will discuss how to turn increased spending into concrete capabilities. Meanwhile the US is withdrawing key capabilities: 5,000 troops will be removed from Germany, and the deployment of a long-range fire battalion was cancelled. A six-month review of the entire US force posture is next, which is expected to include the withdrawal of many strategic enablers like air-to air tankers, bombers and an aircraft carrier.

NATO is and should continue to be the backbone of European deterrence and defence. The European countries in NATO should work together with the EU and ensure the ‘European pillar of NATO' is not just a slogan, but able to defend every centimetre of European territory.

NATO will not survive if Europeans simply buy more (American) weapons. Europe needs to supplement the US capabilities that hold the alliance together. With two self-sufficient pillars, one (North)-American, one European, separable but not separate, NATO will become stronger.

The way to make this happen is a European Defense Union, not as an alternative to, but a condition for NATO 3.0. European leaders should do three concrete things today with the ambition that matches the threat level and the speed of relevance:

Firstly, our decision-making structures must have the speed to give our armed forces the mandates to respond decisively to any threat. A European Security Council made up of EU and non-EU members, with fast and decisive political leadership, could coordinate defence planning and marshal the necessary economic and military resources in wartime.

Secondly, a Europeanised command and control structure can support an independent, theatre-wide European deterrence and defence. Preferably using NATO structures and systems, if necessary separate. This includes operationalising the EU’s mutual defence clause (article 42.7), regular exercises, a rapid reaction force, and upgrading the EU’s MPCC.

Thirdly, European strategic enablers can fill the most critical capability gaps in our defence that are too expensive for a single member state. By pooling national defence spending, we can procure, maintain and operate them together. AWACS, IRIS2 and the MRTT give precedents.

All three are compatible, empowering NATO structures and their continuing Europeanisation, for example with EU strategic enablers providing HQ AIRCOM with permanently available assets.

At the last NATO summit in the Hague, Europeans agreed how much we have to spend to keep us safe. This should be the NATO summit where we finally agree what to spend it on. Let’s not wait for war to unite us, let’s unite to prevent war!

This is a joint statement by the following Members of the European Parliament, who are also part of the European Defence Union Network (EDUMEP).

Names added after final confirmation.

- Marie Agnes Strack Zimmerman (Renew)

- Rasa Jukneviciene (EPP)

- Matej Tonin (EPP)

- Wouter Beke (EPP)

- Pekka Toveri (EPP)

- Lukas Mandl (EPP)

- Michael Gahler (EPP)

- Ingeborg Ter Laak (EPP)

- Thijs Reuten (S&D)

- Idoia Mendia (S&D)

- José Cepeda (S&D)

- Hilde Vautmans (Renew)

- Dainius Žalimas  (Renew)

- Bernard Guetta (Renew)

- Lukas Sieper (Renew)

- Sandro Gozi (Renew)

- Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle (Renew)

- Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (Renew)

- Lucia Yar (Renew)

- Anna-Maja Henriksson (Renew)

- Bart Groothuis (Renew)

- Sergey Lagondinski (Greens)

- Martins Stakis (Greens)

- Reinier van Lanschot (Greens)

- Damian Boeselager (Greens)

- Anna Strolenberg (Greens)

- Nela Riehl (Greens)

- Kai Tegethoff (Greens)

- Ville Niinistö (Greens)

- Hannah Neumann (Greens)

- Daniel Freund (Greens)

- Merja Kyllönen (The Left)

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜

It is 2026, the year of the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, one of the most consequential manifestations of a people’s will to freedom and self-determination against foreign oppression and European colonialism. It is also 2026, a year where the fraying of the post second world war transatlantic alliance between the US and Europe has moved beyond bewilderment and alienation to stages of open strategic competition. Indeed, it is the year 2026 as well, a year where freedom and democracy seems to be on the retreat globally. A year where Reporters without Borders reported a global 25-year low in press-freedom with more than 50% of the world’s population enduring conditions where free access to information and independent media are distant ideas and not a lived reality. 

Journalist bullying in front of the European Commission?

Regardless of the multiverse of realities of the year 2026, the 250th anniversary of the birth of a nation is a reason to celebrate, in particular given the importance of the American Independence Declaration for the evolution of liberal democracy that in return built the foundation of the EU today. And as such, when the country in question is an ally, there should be no objection in principle to holding celebrations in the capital of Europe, hosted by the official representatives of the US to the EU, NATO, and Belgium.

However, regardless of which country is being celebrated, national celebrations should not take place in locations that symbolize another country’s sovereignty and independence, such as Cinquantenaire Park.

Moreover, this is the year 2026, and the Trump administration turned the festivities in Brussels into an invite-only parade of nationalist cliches and corporate banalities instead of honouring a 250-years old nation, whose strength and innovativeness comes from its inherent diversity. But not enough, faced with questions from invited journalists, the ambassador of the US to Belgium reportedly instrumentalised local police to remove those journalists under the absurd pre-text of them being an “active threat”.

This incident is as revealing as it is worrisome. It is revealing the ultimately political ambitions of the Trump administration, where free access to information and a free independent media are seen as threats to the authoritarian agenda pursued. It is worrisome in the brazenness and aggressiveness with which members of the US administration are exporting their agenda, as explicated in the 2025 US Security Strategy, to Europe, not only giving adversarial speeches and endorsing extremist parties, but even co-opting law enforcement for their goals a mere stone's throw away from the headquarters of the European Commission. 

Our institutions cannot be silent accomplices

According to Reporters without Borders, only 1% of the world’s population lives in countries with good conditions for the press. It is little consolation that this 1% lives in Europe, since press freedom is under pressure in most of Europe, too, already without inappropriate interventions by US ambassadors. 

There is not only the economic strain many independent media experience and the irresponsible defunding of public broadcasters. Across Europe, journalists are also targeted in a wave of lawsuits, not meant to bring justice but to intimidate and silence. We observe the systematic undermining of a sustainable diverse media landscape by governments in Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia. And there is the slow and steady erosion of trust fuelled by social media worlds that have turned from spaces of contact and connection into swamps of misinformation and mazes of fake propaganda. 

Rarely has the situation of the media been so dire, and never was it more urgent for the EU and its Member States to step up their support for a vibrant, free, independent, and diversified media landscape. When free speech and media freedom are threatened, our institutions cannot be silent accomplices. Whether it’s journalists being detained, our personal rights being hollowed out by the Commission’s Digital Omnibus or ChatControl being reintroduced yet again by the European Parliament president - let’s not forget that our European institutions must serve the people first and foremost. They must protect our rights to free speech and access to verified and unbiased information from threats emanating from beyond European borders and from within.

Sovereignty emerges from well-informed citizens taking collective action to guarantee their interests are respected, heard, and integrated in the decision-making processes that shape the societal contracts that govern our lives. Because in the end, the enemies of the free press are the enemies of free people. We are certain the 18th century founders of the USA would agree with us. 

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has exposed a critical structural vulnerability in the European Union's agricultural supply chain. More than one quarter of globally traded fertiliser transits this single maritime chokepoint, with Gulf producers collectively accounting for roughly 16 million tonnes per year of nitrogenous, phosphates and sulfur  of annual export capacity.

The current crisis demonstrates why reducing dependency on synthetic fertiliser imports is not only an environmental objective, but a matter of strategic autonomy.

Russia and Belarus together accounted for 30% of EU nitrogen fertiliser imports and 35% of EU compound fertiliser imports in 2025( fertilizers combining nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in a single product). In order to contribute to the economic security and strategic autonomy of the European Union, this dependence on imports must be reduced.

EU dependency

Agriculture in the EU is heavily dependent on the import of fertilisers. The main components of industrial fertiliser are nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.

For nitrogen, the EU relies primarily on imports from Russia, Egypt, Algeria, the US, and China. 

For phosphate, the EU relies primarily on imports from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Russia, Lebanon, and Israel. Potassium fertilisers are primarily imported from Canada, the UK, Israel, and again, Russia.

While direct imports from the Gulf region to the EU are limited, the Hormuz blockade has driven up world market prices significantly,  exposing the EU to geopolitical instability it has no direct leverage over.

Existing policy

The urgency of fertiliser supply security is not new. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Fertiliser Strategy had already identified import dependency and price volatility as structural risks to European agriculture. At the same time, the European Green Deal proposed an Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan (INMAP), which aimed at a 20% reduction in fertiliser use through improved nutrient efficiency and circular approaches, a measure that would have directly reduced import dependency while supporting sustainability goals.

However, the European Commission seems to have deprioritised INMAP without a clear alternative, leaving a policy gap at precisely the moment when nutrient efficiency and supply resilience are most needed. 

The European Commission presented the Fertiliser Action Plan on 19 May 2026. Although various short-term measures are presented and several long-term options are proposed that require further elaboration, there is a lack of a clear vision in which strategic choices are being made.

Call for action

This is the moment to reduce European dependence on artificial fertilisers while simultaneously strengthening the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and promoting more sustainable production.

Volt calls on the Commission to use the Fertiliser Action Plan to:

• Support competitiveness through innovation, not deregulation. Strong regulation with clear goals drives innovation and reduces dependencies. Reducing input costs for European farmers must be achieved through ambitious, goal-oriented regulation that incentivises investment in technologies reducing dependency on synthetic fertilisers. Clear regulatory targets are not a burden on competitiveness, they are the primary driver of the innovation needed to overcome structural dependencies and protect the long-term viability of European agriculture.

• Phase out dependency on Russian fertiliser imports. The EU's tariff measures since July 2025 are a first step, but an insufficient one. The Commission should set a clear timeline for eliminating Russian and Belarusian fertiliser imports, paired with concrete support for alternative supply chains.

• Choose circularity and revive and strengthen the Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan. Improved nutrient efficiency and circular nutrient flows are simultaneously an environmental and a strategic objective. INMAP should be integrated into the Fertiliser Action Plan as a binding framework.

• Facilitate the scale-up of biofertilisers. The regulatory framework should be tailored to enhance the market uptake of biofertilisers, and public investment in research, demonstration projects and knowledge sharing should be increased.

• Monitor fertiliser reserves. Improve transparency and monitoring of fertiliser stocks and address structural market failures. While existing stocks in Europe may currently be sufficient to cover short-term needs, the current crisis has highlighted the lack of accurate, real-time visibility over fertiliser supplies across Member States. The Commission should therefore establish a robust monitoring framework for key fertiliser inputs, particularly urea and ammonia, to ensure early warning capacity ahead of critical planting windows. Beyond monitoring, the Commission should develop targeted instruments to tackle market failures that leave farmers exposed to price volatility and supply disruptions during geopolitical shocks.

Opinion article by members of the Agriculture & Food Security Community (AgriCom).

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜 

More than ever, geopolitical threats are reinforcing the observation that Europe must invest in its own defence solutions. In the past, Europe has leaned heavily on the United States for protection. . This means that innovation, jobs and decisions around capabilities have been made outside of Europe. With the US becoming less of an ally, having more diverging core values and goals, it is apparent that Europe needs to reduce its transatlantic dependency. 

One very important field in this context is the development of a 6th-generation fighter, more advanced than current fighters, such as the F-35. The US, China and Russia are currently developing their own platforms.

And so had Europe been - until the recent collapse of the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project, also known as Système de Combat Aérien du Futur (SCAF) and the Futuro Sistema Aéreo de Combate (FSAC). Following years of disagreement between the main contractors in the programme, Airbus and Dassault, the project has now been scrapped. The fact that there wasn’t even agreement on the naming of the programme was surely writing on the wall.

A further programme to develop a 6th-gen fighter partly in Europe, the UK-Italy-Japan-led Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP, also known as TEMPEST), remains active. However, the demise of FCAS/SCAF/FSAC is a bitter disappointment and throws into question Europe’s ability to detach itself from the US at exactly the moment it needs to build its own defence capabilities.

A Look Into the Past
Defence cooperation in Europe has a long history, as reflected by the development of the Panavia Tornado, Eurofighter, Tiger, A400M, NH90, and others.  Often these joint defence procurements are plagued by cost overruns and delays which prolong the process before finally producing a compromise product. The main stumbling blocks to efficiency include national interests, capability requirements, a lack of information sharing, lengthy and complex processes and the absence of a single authority with decision-making power. Different needs and ideas lead to distrust, creating the situation where a once-shared goal for cooperation is abandoned. An inability to adequately align the interests of different countries is a significant challenge. 

A better way forward for European defence cooperation

In the US, a process is used whereby the government specifies requirements, and companies bid for the contract, uniting the design bureau and the constructor in one organisation. In some cases, companies will also provide technical demonstrators. In this way, political decisions cover the selection of the design, not the final manufacturing process. Nevertheless, as we can see with the F-35, the winning consortium may seek to gain political support by distributing production throughout the country through direct subsidiaries as well as subcontractors.

The EU could set up a similar system, in which EU countries come together and decide on the requirements of a 6th gen fighter. The outcome could be that two or even three kinds of jets need to be developed. Countries would then ‘sign up’ for jet A, B, and/or C. The EU would then send out these sets of requirements. Requirement decisions should be made early on and must be fixed, in order to prevent deviations and continuous discussion. Furthermore, the agreement should be specifically on the requirements and not on the design choices. This would limit interference by countries during the design phase as a result of industrial interests. Different variations of a 6th gen fighter could provide a basis for specialisations, realising efficiency while meeting the interests of countries. 

Other relevant aspects would be standardisation, interoperability and interchangeability. Standardisation should be made a significant factor in procurement and should also apply to information sharing and supply chain resilience. In this system, companies would get points for using parts that are standardised, sharing data and having a distributed supply base.

Strengthening cooperation should be supported with European initiatives (EDIP, SAFE, EDIRPA) and based on NATO standards. Such EU initiatives would speed up the process and help with the development (not production) of a 6th gen fighter.

However, trusting in the will of countries and the power of European initiatives will likely not be enough to achieve the goals envisioned. A single authority responsible for joint procurement is therefore needed to assess bids and developments independently.

Currently, Europe lags in production capacity, technology, development and affordability - the result of defence industry neglect. The short-term solution is to buy American. The long-term solution is not to buy American, but instead to accept these short-term deficiencies and face them by investing more and making a deliberate choice to accept these extra costs.

Future recommendations for Europe

Learning from what works and what doesn't, we can aim to formulate a vision for the future of European defence procurement that works for us.

1. Move procurement responsibility to an EU institution that is not subordinate to national interests, like OCCAR

2. Harmonise rules to use EU security clearances across EU borders with no national secrets concerning the joint project.

3. Limit political interference in the project after the initial procurement decision.

4. Stimulate consolidation of the European defence industry in order to limit the influence of national industrial interests.

Compromise and trust will be key in achieving international cooperation in programmes such as FCAS.  A near-term, collaborative European solution that drives technological growth is far better than a distant "perfect" design or a fragmented mix of somewhat decent fighters. Swift action is needed. Only continuous improvement that can be achieved through European cooperation will strengthen strategic autonomy. If we fail to achieve this, we risk remaining dependent on countries outside of Europe and will simply never keep up.

Opinion article by members of Volt Europa’s Defence & Security Community (DefCom), Working Group for Cooperation & Integration. To join DefCom, send an email to defcom@volteuropa.org.

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜 

Following the chaotic release of Anthropic’s Fable 5, the US administration blocked access to the AI model for all non-US citizens through a comprehensive export control directive, effectively shutting down its service. Washington’s unilateral intervention, under its "America First" doctrine is a stark wake-up call, exposing the severe strategic risk of Europe’s digital complacency. With the EU relying on foreign providers for roughly 70% of its cloud infrastructure, we have effectively outsourced our digital sovereignty to foreign executive orders. 

Volt Europa calls on European leaders to radically overhaul the Union’s digital infrastructure strategy.

The Fable 5 incident is not an anomaly; it is the most acute manifestation of Europe's structural reliance on non-EU digital infrastructure. The US CLOUD Act of 2018 and FISA Section 702 already grant American authorities extraterritorial access to any data held by US companies, regardless of whether that data is stored on European soil. As EU Commissioner Virkkunen herself acknowledged in the context of the Cloud and AI development Act (CADA) proposal, it remains structurally difficult for American companies to reach the highest European sovereignty levels due to the extraterritorial nature of the US CLOUD Act. 

When a single executive order can sever European access to a frontier AI model overnight, and permanently expose European data to foreign government access without European judicial oversight, our systemic dependency becomes undeniable. 

The lessons of history: turning Washington’s protectionism into European opportunity

History demonstrates that Washington is repeating a classic strategic blunder. In the 1990s, the US placed encryption software on its military export control list. The results were entirely counterproductive; the tech sector simply moved its key cryptographers and operations to Europe and the UK to bypass the restrictions. 

This dynamic illustrates two critical realities. First, the Mobility of Ideas. Innovation moves across borders with total ease, and the internet fundamentally interprets short-sighted laws as damage to be routed around. Second, the sovereignty opportunity. Washington's protectionism is a self-inflicted wound that Europe should leverage as an opening to attract global talent.

Washington's unilateral block on Fable 5 is the modern equivalent of its 1990s blunder. This protectionist overreach creates an immediate commercial and geopolitical opening for the European Union. As the US clamps down on open research, Europe must position itself as the global safe haven for AI researchers, developers, and cryptographers. By offering a stable, predictable, and open regulatory environment, the EU can capture the sovereignty dividend by actively attracting top-tier tech talent and businesses fleeing arbitrary foreign executive mandates.

In contrast, relying on centralised, foreign proprietary tech giants is a systemic security risk for the European Union and its member states. The antidote is therefore structural; when capabilities are baked into open-source software, they cannot be retracted by a foreign executive order overnight.

We should not copy Silicon Valley's past. Instead, we should inherit its future by welcoming the innovators it is currently pushing away.

Demystifying the frontier AI race

True European autonomy cannot be achieved by blindly copying Silicon Valley or racing to accelerate AI development in a vacuum. Frontier AI models like Fable 5 have moved beyond the realm of commercial software into the domain of cyberdefence and critical security infrastructure. When an AI model's underlying capabilities include offensive cybersecurity tools, such as complex vulnerability identification and exploitation capabilities previously confined to nation-state actors, and when these capabilities are protected only by easily circumvented software safeguards, independent technological control becomes a security imperative.

However, the race for the most capable frontier model is largely symbolic. Aside from highly specific security use cases, Mythos-class LLMs like Fable 5 are often only marginally better than their immediate predecessors. Conversely, steep operational costs and resource considerations, such as excessive water usage and severe noise pollution, suggest that the deployment of smaller, specialised models offers a distinct competitive advantage in industrial applications. In some cases desired response times and the strict necessity to keep data local dictate the use of locally deployed models, executed on local hardware, rather than the high-end server farms required by foreign frontier giants.

In this spirit, Volt advocates for companies to design AI architectures focused on sustainability, open standards, and ethical training as best practice over the use of the latest frontier model at all costs.

Actionable policy levers: reforming EU funding and infrastructure

A Europe that runs its frontier models on foreign chips, inside foreign data centres, and under foreign legal jurisdiction has not gained sovereignty. Volt Europa urges the immediate acceleration of the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) alongside strict, uniform enforcement of the EU AI Act. We call for extending the spirit of the NIS2 Directive and the Cyber Resilience Act to mandate that essential European infrastructure, from hospitals to energy grids, is built upon open-source, open-standards, and decentralised tech ecosystems that run independently of foreign geopolitical shifts.

To ensure these regulations translate into tangible infrastructure, we endorse EuroStack, the pan-European initiative developed by lawyers, academics, politicians, and tech companies that provides a ready-made blueprint for sovereign, open-source cloud infrastructure. Volt intends to make the principles of EuroStack the operational backbone for implementing the Cloud and AI Development Act. 

To back this regulatory blueprint with real infrastructure, Europe must execute concrete fiscal and funding adjustments, specifically by:

• increasing funding to reduce foreign tech dependency. The EU must systematically prioritise funding within Horizon Europe and other flagship digital programmes for European participants who build on open, sovereign technology stacks, in line with the CADA's own principle of 'rewarding contributions to EU-based innovation and supply chain resilience’. 

• funding ideas, not stagnant conglomerates. In line with the recommendations of the IFO Institute and Bocconi University framework, the EU must fundamentally reverse its approach to innovation capital. Currently, the vast majority of EU funding is captured by massive corporations that deliver little actual innovation. Funding must be aggressively redirected toward small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and open-source ecosystems, which serve as the true engines of technological breakthrough.

As Sven Franck, Co-President-elect of Volt Europa, notes, “Europe possesses the talent and technologies to make strides towards technological independence. We also offer the legislative frameworks that foster research and innovation. What is missing is the political will to orient public funding towards European solutions with the clear goal of technological leadership and securing our digital future.”

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜 

On the 29th March 2017, the UK triggered Article 50, starting a process that would cost the UK greatly in economic and diplomatic power. On that same day, Volt was founded to bring Europeans closer together. From that day forward, they would move in opposite directions: Britain pursuing splendid isolation, Volt building unity.

Ten years of consequences

Brexit was sold to the British people with the promise of greater prosperity and greater sovereignty, and to “take back control” from Brussels. Yet, 10 years on, Britain is less influential in the world, the British economy is running below expectations, and public finances are suffering. Their leadership is shattered; Britain has now had 7 prime ministers in the last 10 years, all of whom failed to effectively face up to the consequences of Brexit. Additionally, Brexit opened the doors to the normalisation of racist and far-right rhetoric, which is still tainting political discourse to this day. 

Ten years of building

While Britain has spent the last decade struggling, Volt spent it on building a progressive, pan-European political movement. What began as a small group with an idea has now grown into a movement with tens of thousands of members and hundreds of elected officials. Today, Volt is active across 31 countries and has established 22 national parties, turning a vision into a pan-European political force.

The geopolitical landscape has changed

However, the geopolitical landscape of 2026 is very different from the one that Britain imagined in 2016.

Europe is building strategic autonomy, increasing its defensive capabilities, and growing its economy. The challenges connected to AI, the energy insecurity that comes from a fragmented world, in spirit and trade, demand European unity.

The UK could - and should - be a strong participant at the heart of Europe, not an observer on the sidelines.

Why the UK needs Volt now

It is precisely this participation in Europe on which Volt was founded. While Brexit was set in the belief that Britain would be stronger on its own, Volt emerged from its belief that Europeans would be stronger together. Ten years after both began, the contrast between them is striking. Britain spent the past decade moving away from Europe and is suffering from the consequences, while Volt spent a decade building a European future. 

The anniversary of Brexit is not a moment to mourn what was lost, but to reconsider what remains possible. Volt exists in every European country and also within the UK. Volt believes Britain's future is at the heart of Europe, and Volt UK is there to provide a bridge to Europe. 

Become a member of Volt UK! | Volt Europa or contact us at info@volt.org.uk 

______________

You and us share the same dream of a united, thriving Europe. It really means a lot to us when you make a donation, and if you would like to help us plan ahead with confidence, we thank you for your monthly contribution 💜 

With its declaration, Volt Europa works towards providing a blueprint for decision making in a more integrated European Union.

The Bratislava declaration (available in Volt’s website) calls on heads of government to initiate treaty reforms - long overdue since the 2007 Lisbon treaty ratifications - and indispensable considering the geopolitical context and enlargement ambitions from Moldavia to Ukraine.

Inês Bravo Figueiredo, Co-President of Volt Europa "Volt is here to unlock Europe's full potential and change people's lives for the better. With treaty changes, we can ensure that qualified majority voting replaces the paralysis of unanimity. If we abolish the veto, Europe can finally act swiftly and decisively on the issues that matter most to citizens, from securing our shared energy supply and defense to tackling the cost of living and the climate crisis. Europe’s future is no longer held hostage to the least ambitious government in the room.”

Sven Franck, Co-President of Volt Europa: "We will never have 27 pro-European governments at the same time. Treaty changes provide the timeframe and opportunity to engage and involve citizens in the process of deepening cooperation from defence and security to economic integration."

Only European leaders will move Europe forward. This is why Volt Europa will act on two fronts: building the next generation of European political leaders while also offering a platform for progressive, forward thinking minds keen on building the future Europe Union. Volt is the only European political party in its purest sense and its new leadership will focus on building momentum towards the 2029 European elections.

About Volt Europa

Founded in 2017 in response to rising nationalism and Brexit, Volt Europa operates in over 30 countries across Europe. With more than 40,000 members/supporters, over 360 elected representatives at municipal, national, and European level, Volt actively advocates for reforming the European Union into a united, democratic, and sovereign federal state, unlocking Europe's full potential.

Fact Sheet

• Group in the European Parliament: Greens EFA

• Years in Existence: 9 years (Founded on 29 March 2017)

• Geographic Presence: Active in over 30 European countries

• Total Membership: Over 40,000 members+supporters continent-wide

• Votes in the European Elections: 1.4 million votes across Europe

• MEPs elected: Damian Boeselager (Germany), Nela Riehl (Germany), Kai Tegethoff (Germany), Anna Strolenberg (Netherlands), Reinier van Lanschot (Netherlands)

• Volt in the press: All news about Volt 

• Elected Officials: 360 Officials elected in 11 Countries

Media Contact

Contact us via eurpress@volteuropa.org (Jacob Lippold)

Volt will build the leadership platform to unite Europe and demands reforming EU treaties

The last months have shown us that in a world changing for the worse, we, as European citizens, can only prevail if we change Europe for the better.

Whether a European army or a United Europe, citizens across the continent understand the urgency and what is at stake. So does Volt: We are running out of time.

Volt Europa was born with the goal to “Fix Europe”. We believe in a federal Europe and we are calling on national governments to also make a leap of faith: changing treaties was never easy, but it was possible until the 2007 Lisbon treaty. We see today that 20 years without reform is a recipe for disaster.

Only 1 government is needed to propose treaty changes in the European Council. 14 can initiate the process. We don’t have 27 Orbáns. We don’t have 14 Orbáns. We actually have no more Orbán. Yet, unanimity remains and threatens the European project at its core.

If national leadership continues to only talk about a more united and more integrated Europe without taking the next logical steps, the only solution is to build and vote for real European political leadership. This is what Volt will do.

The next European elections are in 2029. Volt demands to open EU treaties until then. We cannot wait. And Volt will not wait:

• We will seek dialogue with heads of government to argue for initiating treaty changes to give the Parliament legal initiative and move to qualified majority voting.

• We will build momentum in the population to use the next European elections to change course towards a federal Europe.

• We will build the platform for future European leaders - on European and national level to provide an alternative and European perspective to electors.

Volt Europa is on its way to taking responsibility for Europe.
We demand national governments to take responsibility now.