Manifest
A stronger more united Europe
Evropská demokratická strana Vote !
At the heart of our democracies lies a fundamental act: the right to vote. During the European elections, from the 6th to the 9th of June 2024, we have an unprecedented opportunity to fulfil our civic duty by voting.
Why is this of such crucial importance?
First, this unique opportunity to choose our MEPs sets us apart from the rest of the world. Thanks to direct universal suffrage, we can actively participate in the election of a continental parliament.
In addition, a supranational parliament therefore gives power to every European citizen.
Recognising the importance and significant impact of your vote, our party has a clear and ambitious manifesto presenting our ideas, priorities and measures to defend and promote democratic expression, citizen representation and the dissemination of political ideas on a European level.
Our goal is to create a more committed, inclusive and prosperous Europe where citizens are at the heart of decision-making.
In this period of major societal change, our democracy must reach its logical conclusion. We therefore wish to create a Europe where citizens are active partners in political life. We are committed to bringing the European institutions closer to their citizens and are campaigning for them to be able to elect a true President of the European Union, just as they elect their mayors; for them to be able to vote directly for European political parties in the same way they do at local and national levels. Therefore, the need for a new form of transnational politics is inevitable. For us, it is essential to go beyond national borders to choose our representatives in the European Parliament. Instead of European elections with 27 national debates, we must focus on a truly European debate and politics. This will allow us to face major challenges together, take collective decisions and shape our future with more legitimacy and effectiveness.
We are deeply convinced of the intrinsic value of every individual, wherever they may be. Our objective is to persuade all those who advocate for a more sovereign, democratic, and humanist Europe and those who look to transcend the splits and schisms that populists and nationalists exploit to undermine our European values by deepening divisions. The European Union we dream of is a place where everyone can reach their full potential and live their European citizenship to the fullest, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, age and generation, social origin, ethnic origin and nationality, religion or faith, or physical and mental ability.
We want a more engaged, inclusive and prosperous Europe where citizens are at the heart of decision-making, from their local community to the European Union.
Equality between men and women in the European Union has made significant progress over recent decades, but there is still a long way to go. We must ensure that men and women achieve full equality in all aspects of life as quickly as possible. We must also eradicate gender-based violence, which remains a major problem in Europe.
Our vision of a diverse society goes beyond the fight against discrimination: we are fighting to build a society where differences are not only accepted, but celebrated. Recognition and respect for universal human rights are an integral part of our European culture, and we will strive to remove all obstacles that stand in the way of building a fully inclusive society.
We seek to strengthen this Europe of solutions, which will provide real answers and create numerous opportunities for our regions and their citizens.
However, Renew Europe did not wait for this deadline to act. Since 2019, our political group has become a key player in the European Parliament. Thanks to our collective intelligence and alliances, with Emmanuel Macron’s leadership, we have delivered our promises by revitalising the foundations of a dynamic and powerful Europe, while prioritising concrete and pragmatic action.
We are proud of the tangible results achieved during this legislative term. Although the foundations on which our society was built have revealed certain weaknesses and highlighted the limits of old assumptions about free trade, openness without reciprocity or a certain naivety towards major trade issues, we will be known for being at the origin of considerable progress. These include the new rule of law conditionality regulation, which prevents allocating funds to those not respecting European values. We have also promoted key initiatives such as the Green Deal, new laws on digital services and markets, COVID-19 vaccines, the Recovery Plan, the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the introduction of transnational lists and the holding of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The latter represented a first in Europe’s history, allowing direct citizen participation on a continental scale.
Together, let's shape a better future, where the values of freedom, democracy, equality and solidarity are fully realized.
We firmly believe that European sovereignty and strategic autonomy are essential to preserve our freedoms, and it is time to define our vision for Europe clearly.
We want to fight for a continental strategy adapted to new challenges and requirements. The principle of living together as Europeans must guide us while ensuring our continent’s security, development and boosting cooperation.
This is why we support the proposal for a European political community. It’s mission will be to strengthen the links between the Member States of the European Union, the candidate countries in the process of joining, as well as the European countries that have chosen not to be part of our Union. It is essential to ensure consistency of action and promote a sense of shared community within this new architecture of continental cooperation and security.
In this context, it is evident that the European Union, as it currently exists with its institutional structure, is not ready to play this new geopolitical role nor to welcome new members. Essential reforms without totems nor taboos are necessary to meet these challenges.
Together, we can shape a better future where the values of freedom, democracy, equality and solidarity are fully achieved.
We must reorganise the European continent and, to cite only the main reforms, we must establish a defence union and an energy union by eliminating the right of veto, facilitating the initiatives of peoples and states who wish to accelerate their political union, creating new own resources and strengthening the European Parliament while reducing the number of Commissioners. Reforming the treaties to achieve these essential changes and move forward with continental unification is imperative. We must aim for a sovereign Europe that will truly allow us to regain control of our destiny.
The European Union was designed to strengthen the various levels of governance, whether local, national or supranational, rather than to weaken them. Our party’s approach is that in the same way that cities strengthen regions, strengthening nations make the European Parliament stronger… And vice versa. The goal is to promote upward and downward collaboration between the different levels of government and democracy, thus creating a more solid and effective structure. We will also promote a new cooperation strategy between the different generations for real solidarity between the youngest and the oldest.
When we talk about Europe, our commitment ranges from the continent to the oceans and to the outermost regions. We are determined to place the outermost regions as one of our primary concerns and to give them the recognition they deserve as regions with solutions and of strategic geopolitical importance. These regions are fully part of the European Union, and we want them to feel this ever more strongly and urgently.
Our ambition is to make Europe a beacon of excellence and innovation, focusing on the well-being of our fellow citizens and building a promising future for generations to come.
That is why we want to strengthen the protection of citizens, regain control of our destiny, fully harness the potential of artificial intelligence, consolidate our common defence, responsibly manage migration challenges and ensure thoughtful climate protection.
The ecological transition must be pragmatic and inclusive, guided by technology, far from ideological dogmatism and in no way punitive towards families, businesses or professionals in the primary sector, farmers and fishermen. It is the European Union itself that must take charge of this transition. This means reforming European budgets and creating new financial
Together, we can shape a better future where the values of freedom, democracy, equality and solidarity are fully achieved.
Resources, such as a carbon tax at borders. We want to promote renewable energies by offering financial incentives to encourage the transition to a green and blue economy. We will actively support companies that develop clean technologies, and we will continue our efforts to help small and medium-sized enterprises.
For us, the digital, ecological, and maritime transitions are the essential pillars of our 21st-century Europe, just as coal and steel were in the past. Our proactive approach pushes us to build a resilient, prosperous Europe in harmony with our environment. We will support balanced and pragmatic policies to reduce carbon emissions, promote renewable energy and encourage the adoption of cleaner modes of transport.
The principle of living together as Europeans must guide us while ensuring our continent’s security, development and boosting cooperation.
We are convinced that innovation and research will play a crucial role in Europe’s growth and competitiveness, and we will make massive investments in cutting-edge technologies, taking into account the needs of all generations.
For us, artificial intelligence represents an opportunity for humanity, and we trust it. Moreover, we will promote the freedom of companies and creators in this field because it will create jobs and facilitate the lives of children, students, parents, and grandparents. We want to promote a new strategy between generations thanks to artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence will be the key to the future, and we must regain the time we have lost compared to China and the United States in this sector. This evolution will take place in full respect of the principles and freedoms that lie at the heart of our model of society. At the international level, we are committed to building a new governance of artificial intelligence with the United Nations. However, innovation must not relegate culture to the background.
On the contrary, culture must benefit from the same resources as those allocated to security. We are firmly convinced that a democracy at risk is culturally impoverished. Hence why we call for every 1 euro spent on security that another 1 euro should be invested in culture.
Culture was, is, and always will be the best asset for the future of our youth and the natural barrier against nationalist and populist ideas. We recognise its essential role in preserving our society’s values and identity.
We are firmly committed to continuing and intensifying our initiatives to guarantee and improve their daily lives. This includes strengthening their protection as consumers and reducing social, generational and regional disparities. We strongly push for policies and regulations to fight against planned obsolescence and a fairer and more sustainable single market for producers and consumers.
The revision of the treaties must make it possible to aim for a sovereign Europe to regain control of our destiny.
At the heart of our conviction lies the imperative of involving the people and including regions. We will reduce the gap between reality and the public’s perception of European institutions. With this in mind, we will pay close attention to urban and rural dynamics, even down to the most concrete details.
The crucial role of mayors will finally be recognised as the leading actors in our approach to European politics. Their proximity to citizens and their understanding of local needs gives them an invaluable influence in implementing our vision. By involving citizens, highlighting regional specificities and valuing the power of councillors, we will build a Europe that is more democratic, participatory and anchored to what people live every day.
The principle of living together as Europeans must guide us while ensuring our continent’s security, development and boosting cooperation.
We aspire to a Europe that promotes harmonious coexistence in all its diversity. Recurrent migration crises have highlighted the need for a unified approach. Thus, we will implement an asylum and immigration policy that is humane and fair, respecting the fundamental rights of each individual while ensuring the security and successful integration of migrants. Our commitment will turn towards a migration policy based on solidarity between Member States and support for initiatives to address the root causes of forced migration. We will also strive to establish common rules to tackle the challenges of economic and climate migration. Furthermore, recognising the urgent need to ensure that Member States in the South are no longer left to police vast stretches of maritime borders on their own, we will actively support the implementation of the new partnership between Europeans and Africans, launched in February 2022 under the French Presidency of the Council. This partnership is essential to the development of a continent undergoing rapid demographic expansion.
By supporting Africa as a friend and partner, we aim to control the outflow of its citizens to Europe better. We will mobilise civil society and young people from both continents to make this vision a reality. We are convinced that diasporas will be ‘renewable energy sources’ that will propel this new strategy of shared growth and prosperity.
Successful integration requires European policies that include cities and regions upstream and downstream. Citizens are integrated at the local level, and the regions provide most of the services they need, such as healthcare and education. Better knowledge of employment and integration opportunities is also found at the regional level, as is the combination of these needs with active employment policies. Many regions are also active in cooperation. Failing to capitalise on this knowledge dehumanises European immigration policies.
We are determined to build a strong Europe because it also means a united and influential Europe on the world stage. In an era marked by the emergence of new empires, such as China or Russia, we want to strengthen integration between Member States in security, defence and foreign affairs.
We will promote initiatives by groups of countries willing and able to go further and faster regarding defence and security integration. This includes support for creating a genuine European military force capable of dealing effectively with security crises and threats and new hybrid threats.
Strategic autonomy is essential if we are to develop a genuine European pillar within NATO and strengthen our alliance with the United States. Together, Europeans and Americans, we aspire to promote a new alliance for democracy on a global scale.
Moreover, unlike nationalist parties that prioritise their particular and electoral interests, establish alliances with powers outside Europe, manipulate the media and interfere in the economy of our democracies, we are committed to taking concrete action to ensure our collective autonomy and security in partnership with all other democracies in the world.
Health is an essential part of our manifesto. This is why we recognise the crucial importance of autonomy in terms of healthcare and proposes to strengthen Europe’s capacity for action and relocate the production of medicines and medical equipment within the Union.
By ensuring full coverage of the strategic product value chain, this measure will strengthen our ability to meet the healthcare needs of our citizens while reducing our dependence on external sources. Thus, adequate medicines and medical equipment availability will be guaranteed, increasing our resilience during health crises. By using new common standards and sharing data with doctors and health professionals, we can also benefit from technological advances at the service of citizens while developing major European research centres.
We want to give our young people every opportunity to succeed and fulfil their potential without being held back by social, economic or geographical obstacles. This will require a concrete and effective youth policy for the European Union, capable of providing the tools it needs.
With the European elections just a few months away, we are ready to say loud and clear that we want a Europe where debates belong to the people. We will always vigorously defend our vision for a humanist European society.
Europe is a multiplier of opportunities, rights and protection for our people, especially the most vulnerable.
Therefore, the time has come to set in motion a new political dynamic and reinvent ourselves.
To build a better and more resilient future, we offer innovative solutions to continue the European transformation that started in 2019 and remedy the flaws that could alter our foundations.
Join us!
We are sure that the pro-European central forces will increasingly become the driving force behind the European recovery.
We call on all Europeans to join us in this campaign for a strong and united Europe.
Together, we can shape a better future where the values of freedom, democracy, equality and solidarity are fully achieved.
The world is changing. Borders are shaking. Countries are becoming tense and fractured. Like tectonic plates, they scrape against each other. By joining forces, we can reinvent a Europe that is stronger, more democratic, more progressive, and ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The global challenges are immense and we will not let hatred cloud our vision. And that is why it is with a heavy heart that we speak of the “Israeli 9/11”.
What happened in Israel on 7 October 2023 was not a terrible act of war nor a demonstration of territorial or nationalist claims. No, it was the pure hatred of a heinous monster that erupted from the Gaza Strip. Its name is Hamas.
Some are looking for words to describe the unspeakable, but silence, as we in the European Democratic Party know, is always on the worst side. It hides the truth; it obscures reality.
In reality, there will be no lasting peace without recognition of the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to a territory and a state. Nor will there be any lasting peace unless the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority recognise the State of Israel and its security.
Peace is the unique bond between people. Peace is the essential bond that enables us to face global challenges together.
We will continue to fight tirelessly for peace. It is our commitment, our duty to humanity.
The challenges lie ahead, and European Democrats will rise to meet them.