The 5+1 Challenges

Volt has defined 5+1 fundamental Challenges that need to be tackled in each European country and in Europe as a whole.

Why 5 + 1 Challenges?

  • The 5 Challenges are basically the same for every country, but their implementation can be adapted on the national level to take into account local realities.
  • The +1 Challenge – our proposal to reform and strengthen the EU – is identical across all our national programmes.

1. Smart State

Education and digitalisation are key elements of the 21st century.

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Governments should provide state-of -the-art public services for the benefit of their citizens and residents. This includes:

  • digitalising public services to reduce waste and to improve efficiency and service quality,
  • modernising education systems,
  • making high-quality healthcare available to everyone,
  • providing a fair and transparent legal system, effective law enforcement, and fighting corruption and tax evasion,
  • guaranteeing digital rights and freedom,
  • strongly supporting research.

2. Economic Renaissance

An innovative economy must be the engine of society's progress.

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European economies must be the engine of society’s progress and allow for a decent living standard for everyone. With this in mind we want to:

  • aim for leadership in innovation,
  • tackle unemployment by innovative working schemes, a European labour platform, and by easing the setting-up of small businesses,
  • rebuild economically challenged areas
  • push for a circular economy,
  • foster a European Artificial Intelligence Initiative,
  • introduce a Europe-wide corporate tax,
  • create a unified European social and fiscal system.

3. Social Equality

No-one should be left behind - no matter their gender, income, religion. or origin.

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Every person in Europe must be guaranteed equal rights and opportunities. To achieve this we want to introduce policies that

  • stop inequalities and discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, national origin, descent, or skin colour,
  • alleviate poverty and homelessness, e.g. by social housing, accessibility to social benefits, and free healthcare for everybody,
  • guarantee free education to all, from pre-primary to higher and vocational education,
  • emphasize a person’s right to their own body by Europe-wide harmonized rules concerning reproductive rights, sex-work, and ending life with dignity.

4. Global Balance

Europe needs to assume responsibility for its role in global challenges.

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We want to establish policies in line with the Sustainable Development Goals in areas such as

  • climate change,
  • international fair trade,
  • sustainable farming,
  • food security,
  • biodiversity,
  • international development cooperation.

In the area of migration we advocate

  • a new “burden-sharing” refugee system,
  • removing existing legal barriers for labour migration,
  • setting-up an international system to prevent and address refugee crises,
  • putting an end to statelessness in Europe.

5. Citizen Empowerment

People must be empowered to influence politics beyond elections alone.

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Europeans should be empowered to

  • take informed political decisions,
  • be able to influence politics beyond elections alone,
  • exercise their democratic rights within vibrant, resilient and highly deliberative democracies.
  • Our policies are based on best practices regarding the fostering of a pluralistic information and media landscape, tools & technologies for political engagement and empowerment, and ways in which democracies can be made to thrive.

+1 EU-Reform

We love the EU - this doesn't mean there is no room for improvement.

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  • The European Union is our common project: we have managed to come together and build a Union that has ensured peace and prosperity for over sixty years.
  • Yet, it has its shortcomings, which is why we want to reform and strengthen EU governance and institutions for
    • a more democratic, more transparent and stronger Europe,
    • a federal Europe.
  • We propose concrete policies for more efficient EU action to promote and protect the interests of all European citizens.