A Vision for Denmark in Europa

Volt Wants A Strong Local and Federal Europe

A Vision for Denmark in Europe on the occassion of Volt Danmark's 2nd anniversary, 21 July 2020.
By Kathrine Richter, co-president.

I want a strong local and federal Europe.

Everyone should ask themselves the following question: What do we want with Europe?

This fundamental question has been dogging me throughout these European Council negotiations. Right now, national leaders are convened with their mandates, pressuring other country leaders to settle, making losers of all of us.
And where does this leave Europe and the European idea?

I am writingt his as a leader of the Pan European party Volt Danmark and I am writing because societal visions for Denmark and Europe are absolute missing in the mainstream political discourse. Political leaders jump from crisis to crisis, from refugee crisis to environmental crisis to health crisis - but where are the visions for the future?

My vision for Europe is a shared Europe. Not 27 individual countries with each independent and limited understanding of what is possible - but a Europe imagining what 500 million people can achieve together. A Europe where Europeans are connected through education and job opportunity, where language strengthens our abilities to comprehend and create friendships and where we have a clear sense of what can be solved locally and what should be fixed federally.

When pollution flows across our borders, we need federal guidelines. When right-turn accidents are on the rise, we need local action to stop accidents.

My vision for a federal Europe is as closely connected to a strong, local Europe. Where citizens voices are strong, where social innovation is part of our everyday and where elected officials are responsible to their constituents, not just a political party.

And lets recall for a moment, that political parties are not mentioned in the Danish constitution. It is how democracy has developed. At this very moment, no mention is made of Pan European parties either, but this too is changing.

For there are more and more who feel European. As much as we feel connected to our housing association, our sports club, our circle of friends - so does data confirm how Denmark benefits from our European membership. But my vision for Europe is not based on trade quotes or sales figures.

My vision is as much based on the fear that the numerous experiences which Europe has made through centuries of war, repression, development and education could be lost. Lost in a maelstrom of resurging nationalism. For it is not behind trade blockades or border controls that we develop. It is in the meeting with other ideas in a world able to communicate.

And as we witness the developments in China, in the US, in South America and Russia, we must not allow ourselves to be divided. We must not be turned by nationalistic narrative with a halflife of a news cycle. At this very moment - indeed, for many years - we need a stronger Europe, with institutions that defend and execute European values. We need our precious experiences to last, not lost.

And this is where a Europe of nations suffer a certain type of deficit: The inability to move beyond party political communication, national narratives and a stilised fear of the other.

Which is why my vision for Europe is both federal and local. My Europe is ripe with citizens equipped with tools to organise and be heard. And if elected officials not only listen but act together with their constituents to implement the solutions to secure a sustainable future - then the green transition is not just something that needs to happen, we will be part of its execution.

Fortunately, I am not alone with my vision for Europe - I share this with Europeans in Denmark and across the continent. Volt Europa is the first Pan European party and movement. We will run for elections and build a new political arena based on our shared understanding of a Europe built on local and federal strengths. By sharing our best practices with generosity and encouragement, by running for elections to implement those ideas and strenghten the citizenry of our European community across our borders - We will have a strengthened Europe for the future.

And that is our VIsion for Europe and for Denmark in Europe.