The European Braderie
The European Braderie
> With the European elections just a year away, Volt Lille has turned its gaze beyond the European Union to invite our twin city's Leeds for Europe association to highlight the importance of the European project and connections across borders.
> Volt is launching a number of initiatives for the autumn aimed at mobilising European citizens in France to register to vote, and the Braderie will be an opportunity to start raising awareness of next year's European elections.
Lille, 31st of August 2023
After hosting teams from partner cities in Europe during the last Braderie, Volt Lille will this year have a joint booth with the “Leeds for Europe” association from our partner city in the United Kingdom. The association is coming over and participating in the Braderie to highlight the importance of maintaining connections even across borders and to show that, while today outside of the European Union, the hearts of many English citizens still beat European.
Richard Wilson, Chair of Leeds for Europe and Vice Chair of the European Movement (UK): “It will be our first time participating in the Braderie and we are already looking forward to not only experiencing the flair of this hallmark event that makes Lille shine far beyond its city limits. We’re also hoping to show visitors that the place of the UK is and hopefully will be one day again in the European Union alongside our friends from France, Germany and all over the continent. We also want to invite everyone interested in strengthening our city partnership to cross the channel and discover Leeds, Lille’s twinning city in England.”
For the team of Volt Lille, the Braderie will be its political rentrée with the upcoming European elections taking center stage. The focus of Volt in the coming months will be mobilizing electors to register to vote in 2024. To do so, several initiatives are being launched: the site votefrance.eu explains EU citizens in France to register to vote and is in the process of being translated into all European languages while Save-Erasmus asks students to register to vote, because calls to dismantle the European Union will also mean the end to programmes such as Erasmus, which allows 600 000 students per year to study and live in another European country.
Sven Franck, co-president of Volt France and responsible for the team in Lille: “France is one of the motors of the European project, but interest in the European elections is incredibly low compared to other member states. We want to change that and mobilize the over 1.5 million Europeans from other member states living in France to register to vote. We will be launching initiatives throughout the year and hope that with a higher turnout, France will send a pro-european majority to the next European Parliament - and if we are lucky maybe even with a Volt deputy from France.”
About Volt
As the first truly pan-European party, Volt is committed to reforming the European Union and responding to today's challenges in a coordinated way at European level. Volt's vision: a progressive Europe with an inclusive society, a climate-friendly economy, an adaptable education system and self-determined digitalisation.
Volt is convinced that only the democratic participation of all European citizens will prepare us for a sustainable, economically strong and socially just future. This is why Volt acts at all levels - from local to European, as a movement and as a party. The movement gives everyone a voice and the opportunity to engage politically from within society. Today, Volt is present all over Europe: thousands of people of all ages and professions are involved in 30 European countries with teams in hundreds of cities.
For interview requests or further information, please contact us at the following address :
Contact
Sven Franck - Co-President de Volt France
Mail : sven.franck@volteuropa.org
Valerie Chartrain - Co-Responsable Communication
Mail : valerie.chartrain@volteuropa.org
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Updated on August 31st 2023.