Hi Fediverse!👋 We're Volt Europa, a pan-European political party building a federal, green, and progressive Europe. 🇪🇺

We believe in digital sovereignty, transparency, and putting people before platforms. Sound familiar? That's precisely why we're here.

We're not just looking for another channel to broadcast on. We chose this space because it reflects what we stand for: open, decentralised, and community-driven. We want to be part of this, not just present on it.

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#introduction #newhere

Now, let's be honest. We know what it looks like when organisations show up, cross-post for two weeks, and disappear. We don't want to be that. But we're a small team with limited resources, so we need this to work both ways.

Engage with us. Challenge us. Tell us what you want to see from a European political party in this space. Help us make this worth it, for all of us.

This is the start of a conversation, not a campaign. Let's talk. 💜

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#introduction #newhere

@VoltEuropa

> We believe in digital sovereignty

Could you share what this means to you, please, and what steps you would take to get there?

@VoltEuropa Welcome and thanks for being here!

@VoltEuropa welcome to the Fediverse!

Some sore points:

1) Stop/eliminate Chat Control / EU going Dark.

2) promote Free and Open Source Software projects.

3) enforce GDPR - especially Big Tech.

4) privacy friendly/preserving digital ID.

5) Lobby Control / combat Corruption / more Transparency & Accountability on EU-level.

@lexinova The honest answer: not fully yet. We've already made deliberate choices to move away from US-based services, but we're not going to pretend we've crossed the finish line. More transitions are in progress. But yes, US-based services are still part of our setup. Being a volunteer-driven organisation, replacing them takes time. We'd rather be honest about the gap than claim a sovereignty we haven't fully earned yet. Holding us to our own standard is exactly right, and we welcome it. (nr)

@lexinova If you want to help us get there faster, our Tech team is always looking for volunteers. 💜

https://volteuropa.org/eur-tech-infrastructure-co-lead-female-diverse

@VoltEuropa cheers from France ! Looking forward to read more about your program, in tech and all around.

If your experience on the fediverse is successful, you should plan on hosting your own instance and provide your elected officials with official accounts. We are fond of those. If needed, I might be able to help you in that regard, feel free to pm me when you're ready.

@VoltEuropa How about this: why not engage with us? There's plenty of tools to find things that might fall into your wheelhouse, that are worth jumping into the comments for.

I get wary of anyone who has a post/reply ratio that shows all post, no reply. Start by actually engaging instead of proclaiming and letting the comment section be a "talk amongst yourselves" wasteland.

We already have too many advertisement soapboxes, we need more conversation. And conversation doesn't end with the starter.

@VoltEuropa Welcome to the fediverse!

@VoltEuropa awsome! Welcome :D

@VoltEuropa lobby pro nucleaire

@VoltEuropa Welcome!

@VoltEuropa Welcome.

And let’s get started then:

• What is your position on Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza?

• Ditto on the unlawful war of aggression being waged by the US and Israel?

• What’s your take on Frontex and the EU’s inhumane refugee policies. Will these continue as business as usual with you or will you reform them?

• What’s your position on Chat Control and Age Verification?

• Does your sovereign tech strategy rely on recreating Silicon Valley in the EU (with VC-funded startups, etc.) or do you favour a commons-based tech stack funded from and designed to serve the commons?

• If we created a United States of Europe, how do we ensure it doesn’t turn into the United States of America (but with different people at the helm?)

• In your vision, is the European Parliament still a toy parliament that can’t legislate or will it have legislative powers like every other parliament?

• Related to the above: Do you see a future for an unelected European Commission and what’s your stance on proportional representation?

Thanks + regardless of your answers good to see a group engaging here instead of avoiding it completely (*waves at Diem25*) or just broadcasting.

@aral @VoltEuropa what Aral said! :)

I mean, bem-vindas!

@aral @VoltEuropa yes, I'm also interested in your response to these questions.

@VoltEuropa Hi and welcome! What do you see as the best strategy for a willing & good-faith UK government (let's just imagine) to approach closer ties/re-entry to the EU?
tbf the current govt does seem to be inching in that direction.

@aral @VoltEuropa Good call @aral Seconded

@aral @VoltEuropa Interesting questions, indeed.

@VoltEuropa Welcome! I gave you a follow. I met the team of Volt Paris at an event earlier this year, and looked for them on Mastodon, but didn't find them. Maybe you can tell them to join too.

So. That went well.

We asked you to engage, challenge us, and tell us what you want. You absolutely did. Thank you. 💜

We've bookmarked every question and reply. No one is being ignored. We're working through them one by one, and we'd rather give you good answers than fast ones.

Keep them coming. More to come.

Hey @Enea90 - thanks for following. Make sure to add https://mstdn.social/@VoltFrance@piaille.fr to your list, too.

@VoltEuropa Thanks for the tip, I gave them a follow.

@VoltEuropa

Welcome.
At the risk of being partisan, I am curious, if this is your pitch, how you would differentiate yourself from the Greens, who already seem to be in that space.

RE: https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/@neil/116251863534419086

@VoltEuropa Did you have any thoughts on this?

RT: https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/users/neil/statuses/116251863534419086

@neil Please bear with us. We're on it! https://mstdn.social/@VoltEuropa/116262076213957365

RT: https://mstdn.social/ap/users/116245469667909390/statuses/116262076213957365

@VoltEuropa
Moin

@VoltEuropa that's interesting. I still have to answer a MEP from Volt who answered one of my e-mails to #LeaveX.

It would be great if members of the party came here! Mainly after leaving X.

@VoltEuropa
Welcome ☀️

@dotmavriq Thanks for asking! The "Shine 29" strategy is our roadmap for 2024 to 2029: https://volteuropa.org/shine-2029-our-plan-for-the-next-5-years

We focus on transforming the EU into a truly democratic federal state.:
1. Smart State: Digitalising public services and investing in education.
2. Economic Renaissance: A circular, green, and innovative economy.
3. Social Equality: Ending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities.
4. Global Balance: Promoting peace, security, and climate justice globally.

(1/2)

5. Citizen Empowerment: Using citizen assemblies to give you a direct voice.
+1: EU Reform: Building a federal democracy with an elected government and a European Army.

Regarding "not at all costs": Volt advocates for the **principle of subsidiarity**. Decisions should be made at the most local level possible. We also propose a **European Constitution** to protect member states from democratic backsliding and ensure clear safeguards for national identities within the federation.

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@VoltEuropa Hello, I am an Italian, European, World's citizen. In theory. But, I'm blind from birth.
As you are a political party, I would like to talk to you about politics-related matters. All over the world I think, for us blind people there's a crucial matter: VOTING is not 100 percent accessible. There's assisted vote, you go to the cabin with a trusted person. But everyone knows that TRUST is not a safety measure. It's not always that a person you trust, shares your same political ideas.
And even if I tell the assistant "please vote A, for me", I can not prove, never prove, if they could have voted B, instead.
Electronic vote is not to consider, as every system has their vulnerabilities. Braille can't be used as not every blind person knows it, especially those who lost their sight when adult, or in later age.

And? Then, let me express a doubt in another complex issue Europe has: I hardly believe in the possibility of "united states of Europe" because Europe has NEVER HAD a common language. Paradoxically, the standard spoken language is English, but we inherited it from UK first, .USA after. And those zones are politically off Europe - British just since recent years. Even Esperanto, how could it succeed? Well, we can't talk about "united states" if there are those language conflicts - as far as I know, for example, France's population speak English less than others. Italian as well. English is better spoken from 1975-80 born and forwards.
Feel free to reply, then we can discuss whatever.

@VoltEuropa @immersfer Welcome! Curious to see and hear more about your party, there’s definitely room for a party looking to build a more sustainable future for the whole planet, not just humans.

@VoltEuropa Plushtodon looks badass with the cap.

@VoltEuropa Welcome to the #Fediverse !
What is your position on #ChatControl ?

#EUPol

@VoltEuropa Hola! I only found you just now. May I suggest to use the #EUpol tag? Not for everything, but I have it bookmarked, but don't use the various national parties/national politics tags so I haven't come across your posts until someone reposted it on my timeline.
That said, my actual question is: why are pro 🇪🇺 parties (broad spectrum) so passive and letting the EPP walk all over us? Where is the public outreach campaign for the EU budget battle to #EndRebates ? #MFFbutNotTheFunKind

@VoltEuropa

1. Follow @bert_hubert and tell us your ideas in digital sovereignty.

2. Given your limited resources, what frequency did you have in mind for checking in and engaging with us?

@hlangeveld We definitely plan to check in daily. To take part in Fediverse discussions and post content that we think might be of interest to our followers (something we need to find out). But this project is purely volunteer-driven. We need to find out how this works for us and if the efforts are beneficial for the community.

@chiefbongo Thank you for the warm welcome and for sharing these critical points. Your concerns regarding digital rights and transparency are central to our vision for a reformed Europe. Volt opposes Chat Control. We advocate for the right to encryption and anonymity online. We also push for the "Public Money, Public Code" principle to prioritize Open Source software.

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On accountability: we propose a stronger EU Ethics Body and stricter lobby controls to combat corruption. We want an EU that leads by example, protecting citizens from both corporate overreach and state surveillance.
We hear your skepticism. Our goal is a federal Europe that is truly democratic and held accountable by its citizens.

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So, this should be simple: why do your Finnish chapter communicate (apparently) exclusively on Instagram?
@VoltEuropa

@VoltEuropa Thanks for joining! What I would like to see is well exemplified by Zack Polanski's Green Party in England and Wales. Namely:

1) Authenticity - no posturing
2) Pointed, clear answers with 0% waffle
3) Resharing of current articles or posts that you have policy-related opinions on, stating how you align/differ
4) When all those are done well, a bit of levity is very welcome (especially with a history of #1 behind you)

Besides that, everything @aral asked you. In detail please!

oh well, I'll join in with my own questions then, just to get an idea:

1) How can the EU achieve Digital Sovereignty when every CPU and GPU need to be bought from US companies?

2) Is a green agenda that respects the planet's finite ressources compatible with an economic system that relies on constant growth?

3) Should there be a EU-wide minimum wage?

4) Do you consider "Social Discrimination" the fact that workers pay proportionaly more taxes than private companies?

@VoltEuropa

@aral @VoltEuropa I am curious about all this also.

Thanks @aral

@aral @VoltEuropa good questions. Curious IF you will get answers….

@aral @VoltEuropa good questions, looking forward to the reply

@aral I know that @voltnederland is at least in favour of the European ICE, #Frontex. Don't know about @VoltEuropa .

@aral @VoltEuropa
Great questions
I would also like to know,
What their standpoints are on digital id?

@VoltEuropa @hlangeveld On the volunteer front, one way to distribute the work is to encourage people in the org to participate as individuals *without* necessarily being required to stick solely to approved official positions (although giving everyone some basic PR training can help avoid starting *too* many fires that need to be put out). If folks are already participating, give them explicit permission to be open about the affiliation (and if those things are already happening, nice work).

@aral
at Bremen, DE we have a bigger Volt community. Online I tried to speak to @voltbremen here years ago. I never got any response. I was on their meetings and saw or felt they only address younger voters. So I left 😳
@VoltEuropa

@joenepraat @voltnederland @VoltEuropa Right, well, that’s not good.

@VoltEuropa What I would really want from a European party: give me the right to vote in the country I live in (work, pay taxes, buy a house, send my kids to school, ...)! That would be way more meaningful for me than voting in my country of origin.

@VoltEuropa Random question, do you know if there’s were any Volt members running in the French municipal elections today / any list endorsed by Volt ?

@Sobex Hey @VoltFrance - can you answer this question, please?

@VoltEuropa
Hi Volt, I wondered if this would be a good place. You're not big in the UK?

For grins, here's some options:
https://m.ai6yr.org/@ai6yr/116162440169165718
😁

@A_J_Millar Volt UK is real and active! 💜 It's campaigning for the UK to rejoin the EU. Smaller than our chapters on the continent, for sure, but growing. The Fediverse feels like exactly the right place for people who think Europe is better together.

@neil@co.uk To us, digital sovereignty means exactly this: the ability of individuals, organisations, and governments to maintain real control over their own data, infrastructure, and technology.

Not a vague aspiration. An actual capacity. Right now, too many of our institutions depend on a handful of corporations or foreign states for critical systems. That dependency is a political vulnerability. We think Europe can and should fix it.

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Concretely, three steps:
1. Public funds, public code: Software built with tax money must be published under a free and open-source licence.
2. Open standards, not walled gardens: Procurement rules should require open standards, so no vendor can hold governments or users captive.
3. European jurisdiction: Critical data and infrastructure must be governed by European law, with real accountability.

What would you prioritise?

(2/2)

@VoltEuropa A lesson I learned from the folks who worked out in Africa and the like bringing technology. You are missing 4)

4) Maintainable and replicable entirely within the EU by EU citizens

It's no good publishing something you can't maintain or that depends on some piece of US or Chinese specific hardware in a way you can't trivially fix.

If it's not maintainable and replicable you are not materially improving the situation.

@s1m0n4 Our position on ChatControl is clear: we oppose it. Protecting children from online abuse is a priority. But mass scanning of every private message is not the solution. Encryption is essential to online privacy, and citizens must never accept mass surveillance as the norm. Evidence shows mass scanning floods investigators with false positives, undermining rather than supporting effective child protection. This is not a plan. It is a false promise.

Read more: https://volteuropa.org/news/chat-control-wont-protect-children

@VoltEuropa thank you!

@wiebiwetter
You work here. You pay taxes here. You send your kids to school here. But you still can't vote here.That's not democracy, that's a relic.

Volt wants to change that: extend voting rights from municipal level to regional, national and presidential elections. Because where you live is where politics affects you.

@ancoghlan @hlangeveld Thanks! We are encouraging all members to participate in Fediverse discussions. Many of them clearly state they are Volters. Nobody has been gagged. At the same time, we are trying to extend the team that manages this account

@VoltEuropa The walled gardens of #2 do also count for #1. With public funds, we want real public public code. Not a walled garden that you can look at but cannot interact with. If the public community cannot do PR's, or they are not accepted then the code is only audit-able, nothing more.