Volt Germany

After its foundation, the "5+1 Challenges" were adopted for the parent organization Volt Europa.[12] Soon afterwards, the European basic programme Mapping of Policies was adopted, which serves as the basis for the creation of all Volt programmes.[13] Volt Europa finally stood for the European elections in 2019 with the election programme derived from the European policy programme, the Amsterdam Declaration. Since then, the Mapping of Policies has been accompanied by several thematic documents. Together with the Mapping of Policies, these documents form the so-called Policy Portfolio, from which all national, regional and local programmes are derived.

On December 22, 2020, Volt Germany presented the basic policy programme adapted to Germany on the basis of the Mapping of Policies and later developed the election programme for the 2021 Bundestag elections from it.[14]

Volt sees the European Union (EU) as the most successful intergovernmental project since the Second World War, enabling Europe's citizens to live in peace, freedom and prosperity. At the same time, Volt believes that the often outdated, entrenched political structures of the EU are increasingly reaching their limits when facing current and future challenges. Volt is convinced that these challenges cannot be met effectively by addressing them alone at and at a national level, but only with stronger integration and more European democracy.[15]

In Volt's view, the reform of the European Union must begin with the reform of its bodies and institutions.[16] Volt calls for an EU of and by its citizens with reformed electoral law and more participation, in which the directly elected parliament and not individual heads of state and government decide the common future.[15] Volt's goal is a European federal republic that should be able to meet current challenges - from climate change to mobility transformation and digitalisation, to social inequality.[17] This also includes a common European army, instead of many national ones.[1]

Volt aims at making Germany CO₂-neutral by 2035 and climate-neutral by 2040.[17] The party's strategy consists of an holistic approach,[18] they describe as a social-liberal transformation. For Volt, climate policy is a cross-cutting issue. It is important to the party that climate policy is designed in a socially compatible way and that the economy is set up in an economically as well as ecologically sustainable way. In order to achieve the goal of comprehensive decarbonisation, the party calls for an increase in the CO₂ price.[19] At the end of the holistic transformation there should be a circular economy.[6] The party emphasises the importance of social cohesion in the course of the transformation to climate neutrality.

Volt strives for a community of solidarity in which social mobility and participation in prosperity of all citizens is improved. To this end, destigmatized and appropriate social security systems that enable people to participate in society and plan their individual lives are to be created. The core issue in this context is the common good-oriented economy in order to counteract the social divide.[15] According to Volt, the labour market is too bureaucratic, contains unclear legal regulations, sets the wrong incentives and lacks protection. The party, therefore, wants to create a new framework and improve employment relationships. Volt wants to reform the education system to a large extent and plans the "school of the future".[20]

Volt at the CSD in Cologne 2019

The party is against discrimination of any kind and calls for direct support for those affected, inclusion of people with disabilities and plans to combat racism and antisemitism.[15] With a progressive migration policy the party wants to ensure that migration is organized in a humane way and that refugees are able to improve their opportunities for participation.[6]

Volt calls for a progressive asylum and immigration policy that consistently implements the human right to asylum and finds transparent regulations for immigration. Volt wants the EU to evolve in this area and achieve a common asylum policy.[15]

Volt judges the climate crisis and growing social inequalities to be the greatest dangers for the continent and Germany.[16] Therefore, Volt combines green, liberal, and social elements in its economic policy.[18] Its self-declared goal is an "ecologically-social and economically sustainable economy", a "sustainable and generation-appropriate market economy [...] that sees opportunities instead of obstacles in decarbonization, entrepreneurship, and digitalization."[15] The party's economic policy is based on the principle of "sustainable development".

At the European level, the party wants to harmonize the EU's tax systems and reduce intra-European tax competition.[15]

Election Posters Federal Election 2021

Volt demands the burden on small and medium incomes to be reduced.[16] Bureaucracy must also be reduced and corporate tax rates lowered "towards a medium European level". In return, higher incomes should be taxed more heavily, as should profit from capital. Additionally, inheritance tax should be comprehensively reformed.[17]

In terms of digital policy, Volt advocates the nationwide expansion of broadband connections and has set itself the goal of consistently digitizing the administration along the lines of Estonia. To this end, Volt plans to establish a Ministry for Digital Affairs, to which the Federal Office for Information Security would be subordinated.[15]

In Volt's view, states should use the technological possibilities of our time to update public services in areas such as education, health care, and the judiciary.[16]

At the European level, Volt opposes the use of upload filters and instead advocates for a unified European copyright law. Volt also calls for a safe and precautionary approach to artificial intelligence, as well as ethical guidelines for AI research and use.[16]

Volt Germany is officially subordinate to the European parent organisation Volt Europa.[36] Volt Europa consists of national organisations and parties from a total of 29 countries and entered the 2019 EU election with a unified election programme.[22]

Volt Germany's federal executive committee, elected in 2019, currently consists of a dual leadership with Friederike Schier and Paul Loeper, four vice-chairpeople (Caroline Flohr, Sophie Griesbacher, Paulo Alexandre, Konstantin Feist) and treasurer Leo Lüddecke.[38] At the December Party Congress 2021, Rebekka Müller and Connor Geiger were elected as the new designated chairpeople with four vice-chairpeople (Carina Beckmann, Jennifer Scharpenberg, Maximilian Ochs, Jens Többen). Likewise, the re-election of the incumbent treasurer Leo Lüdecke took place.[39]

Volt Germany's party members are often "younger and middle-aged, well-educated [as well as] internationally connected",[40] with most members (~70%) not having been politically active before joining Volt Germany.[41] The party says it currently has around 3,000 members in Germany.[1]

Volt's accounts for 2018 show income of around 53,056 euros.[42] This consisted of 16.5% from membership fees, 60% from donations from natural persons, 11.3% from legal entities as well as 12.2% from events, distribution of printed material and publications and other income-related activity. There was no donation that exceeded 4,000 euros.[42]

In 2019, the statement of accounts shows income of around 584,830 euros.[43] 14,1 % of this came from membership fees, 62,2 % from donations from individuals, 7,1 % from legal entities and 7,3 % from income from events, distribution of printed matter and publications and other income-related activities. In addition, for the first time, there is income from state funds, which accounts for 8,9%. In total, the party received 5 donations over 10.000 euros in 2019, including for the first time a major donation from the entrepreneur Christian Burchard Max Oldendorff for 95.000 euros.[43] This was the first time the party appeared in the statistics for major donors.[44]

In 2020, according to the statement of accounts, membership fees accounted for 21,5 %. 30,9 % were donations from individuals, 3 % from legal entities, 0,7 % from contributions from elected representatives, 0,6 % from income from events, distribution of printed material and publications and other income-related activities. 43% of the income came from state funds. In total, the party's income amounted to around 877.133 euros.[45]

In accordance with its donation and transparency guidelines, Volt Germany publishes all donations over 3.000 euros, as a single donation or in the form of several donations added up over the year, on its website within 15 working days. So far (as of 25 January 2022), there have been 43 such donations over 3.000 euros in the party's history.[46][47]

The 2019 European Parliament election in Germany was the first election in which Volt took part. The party obtained 0,7% of all votes in Germany and won one seat in the European Parliament.[57]

In the 2021 German federal election Volt Germany reached 0.4% in the second votes.[58] Due to a threshold of 5% Volt Germany is not represented in the Bundestag.