Dear friends,
And so 2025 comes to a close. How will we remember this year? European leaders continued to deliberate and delay. Conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza raged on, with the suffering of civilians the only constant. For Volt itself, the elections in Germany and the Netherlands came and went with high hopes and disappointing results.
And yet, in the freezing cold of a Frankfurt November, Volt had our biggest General Assembly ever! Powerful speeches, innovative panel discussions, and a purple wave marching through the city centre shows that our movement is not discouraged by setbacks but inspired by them. And as we end the year with Trump’s latest and most explicit attack on Europe, I can sense that his words are emboldening even the most cautious European leaders to embrace a United Europe- perhaps even a United States of Europe.
But let’s focus on our work here in Parliament! They say people overestimate what they can do in a day, and underestimate what they can do in a year. But at the start of 2025 it did seem like our to-do list was endless. Now, on the other side of the telescope looking back, I am proud of what we achieved and determined to continue what we left unfinished.
REINIER
In his work as part of the SEDE (Security and Defence) committee, Reinier managed to include a lot of Volt ideas into adopted proposals despite having no formal role in the process. This swayed the Parliament’s position on things like joint procurement of equipment, defence tech innovation, support for Ukraine, and integration of capabilities and units. In AFET (Foreign Affairs), Reinier and Kai were the co-negotiators for the Greens for the ”Moldova Facility”. This was essentially a Marshall Plan for Moldova- 2 billion Euros for EU reform. Together they managed to really make a difference, to put more money into green and social projects, civil society and judicial and government capacity.
But perhaps Reinier’s greatest milestone this year was the birth of his daughter! And while he has guarded her privacy to the world (to the great disappointment of his social media team), I hope he doesn’t mind me telling you that she is indeed, adorable.
NELA
Nela’s role as chair of the CULT (Culture) Committee, has kept her more than busy this year, Nela pushed for the UK to rejoin Erasmus, seeing the successful commencement of negotiations for this between the EU and UK. With great success: Erasmus+ will once again be open for UK citizens from 2027! Meanwhile in EMPL (Employment and Social Affairs) she negotiated the review of the European Works Council directive, which turned out to be a very progressive text, especially considering the right-wing tilt of the Parliament.
She also took trips to both LA and Lviv. In LA she discussed artists rights, AI, Hollywood and Trump’s tariffs. While in Lviv, she represented the European Parliament as a whole to open the ceremony for the European youth capital, meet with civil society and visit flagship social reconstruction projects. And she ended her year with a mission to the West Bank in Palestine to meet with human rights defenders, only returning this week.
KAI
Despite his reputation as ‘Mr Train’, Kai’s biggest win was the addition of environmental quality standards for surface and groundwater. These standards target PFAS, pharmaceuticals, bisphenols and pesticides. These standards will ensure a high level of safety for our water supplies, protecting people and nature, and represent some of the most stringent water quality standards in the world. This means that European citizens now have more legal protections if their water is polluted, while the bill for this doesn’t go to the people affected but the companies responsible.
And while negotiations are continuing in the TRAN (Transport) committee, Kai did have the opportunity to travel via rail from Brussels to Paris, Madrid and Lisbon. Along the way he met key stakeholders and experienced first-hand what works, what doesn’t work, and what could be improved in the EU railways.
ANNA
This year Anna launched the Volt vision on food in Europe. It is a comprehensive overview of the challenges and policy solutions when it comes to food and agriculture. This document is already shaping our political work, our messaging, and our alliances positioning Volt as the movement with a real plan for Europe’s food transition- while winning us admirers even in the agriculture industry itself. Staying in agriculture, Anna was rapporteur on the file to enhance market access of Biocontrol. This is incredibly ‘EU bubble’ but it is an essential step to create a pesticide-free Europe and- just take my word for it- it’s a big deal. And of course, she went a long way to defend the “veggie burger” that conservatives wanted to ban – not only managing to water their plans down, but also hitting the news all the way to the New York Times.
Anna has also secured a spot in the group monitoring the implementation of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration. As part of her work on this she also organized two successful missions to monitor the situation on the ground, to Bulgaria and to the Italian return centers in Albania.
DAMIAN
As for myself, a lot of my work has been inside our team – professionalising our processes, setting up a cohesive delegation structure, and doing everything to ensure that our team is firing on all cylinders in 2026. I also got to work on a topic close to my heart – the 28th Regime – or as I like to call it, the EU Inc. AKA how to make Europe the easiest place in the world to build a business. We hosted three events in Amsterdam, Berlin and Helsinki and Reinier spoke at one of the biggest Tech conferences in the world – Slush! We are becoming a key voice on the topic and are pushing for an ambitious and innovative law.
I also continued to shape the future Digital Euro – which must become an accessible, usable and safe tool for everyone in Europe, without giving up on privacy and flexibility. Finally you may have noticed that we have launched our United States of Europe campaign. Now more than ever – this campaign is very much needed – as the US is undermining Europe’s sovereignty and resilience at every turn. And if this is coming from one of our so-called allies, just imagine what Europe’s enemies have planned. So follow the campaign – and sign the petition! We’ve got big things coming.
And so we beat on, borne ceaselessly into 2026.
I hope you get everything you wanted on your Christmas list, that you find a moment to share a meal with your loved ones, and that you start 2026 with love, strength, and joy. Happy holidays and happy New Year!
Yours
Damian
