TOWARDS THE EU ELECTIONS 2024: THE GREEN VISION AND THE GREEN CAMPAIGN
EGP Resolution adopted at the 37th EGP Congress, Vienna, 2-3 June 2023
TOWARDS THE EU ELECTIONS 2024: THE GREEN VISION AND THE GREEN CAMPAIGN
One year from now, European citizens will have a decisive choice. The European elections will be a vote of either direction: going backwards following the false promise of restoring the good old times, or going forward: optimistic and determined to build a liveable and better future for all together.
Many challenges are ahead of us. Crisis mode has become our new reality.
But the European Union has proven to be a solution for the crises, not only to respond to them. In times of a global pandemic, we have seen a European Union of solidarity as our protection shield. We have been brutally reminded that the European Union needs to live up to its promise of being a peace project that defends our values. While Putin’s war of aggression tried to divide us, a wave of solidarity with the people of Ukraine fighting for a free democratic society brought us closer together than ever. While democracy, the rule of law and our self-determination are under attack in several Member States, not long ago brave demonstrators in Georgia reminded us that the European Union remains a beacon of hope for all those that fight for a more democratic, more just, and more open society.
The climate crisis has long reached Europe with droughts, heat waves and floodings, while the European Union took bold first steps within the EU Green Deal to become a net zero continent. This is the reality in which the next European elections will take place: Multiple crises challenging the European project on the one hand, and a tremendous assurance that our common future can only be a strong, united and assertive European Union based on solidarity on the other.
As European Greens, with a common vision to face one of the most turbulent moments in recent history, we stand ready to fight for the European Union alongside our partners in civil society.
We stand ready to build our future together with activists, artists, local change makers, scientists, trade unions, sustainable businesses, CSOs, environmental groups, educators, farmers and citizens who develop new ideas and who show that another world is possible. For us it’s clear: crises are not a given, it is up to political decisions and direction to address them. It is up to us.
In 2024 more than ever, we need to understand these crises together, we need credible solutions on our common path towards a liveable future where everyone has a say. This future is possible.
And we, as European Greens, will fight for this future. This is our political offer:
A workable plan to put people and planet first, to implement robust and long-term policies to fight climate change, to protect biodiversity, to organise the energy, transport, and the agricultural transition, to drive the continent towards a fossil free circular economy creating good jobs with adequate wages.
An economy that thrives and secures our future due to its resilience build on climate neutrality, and is globally an important actor through welfare and sustainability and fair global cooperation.
As there will be no climate justice without social justice, a fair package to create a social Europe where all Europeans have access to properly financed public services, where no one is left behind, where everyone receives proper education, affordable housing, where youth unemployment is ending, where redistribution is the driver of European fiscal and tax policy and where workers’ rights are upheld.
A solid project to build an inclusive, feminist and anti-racist Europe, a federal Europe, capable of protecting and sharing its values at global level, where rule of law and democracy are guaranteed, and where no rights of people living in the EU can be taken away.
A clear vision of the role that the EU needs to play in the world. An EU that is a global leader on climate and social policies, that strives for global justice and strengthens multilateralism upholding human rights, democracy, feminism and environmental standards while cooperating with its global partners on eye level, acknowledging its global responsibility and interdependencies as opportunities.
This is how we want to protect our freedoms, our values, our rights and our planet.
And we have already started.
In five EU governments and in many major and smaller European regions and cities, Greens are providing solutions that improve people’s quality of life, protect the planet, and guarantee more rights for the most vulnerable. They support the transformation towards an economy that is based on beyond growth strategies that take into account the Paris Agreement, the planetary boundaries and social indicators.
In the European Parliament, the strongest Green Group to date has for years fought determinately to implement the Green Deal: a project that European Greens have proposed since the 2008. While other political forces are still questioning whether the EU should protect the social rights of its inhabitants, the Greens are building on a Social Europe, guaranteeing a life of dignity for all.
And we are not doing this alone.
Every day in our societies, people are putting this dream of making Europe an open and democratic space into practice. Every day in Europe, activists are mobilising for climate, for social justice, for human rights, for a bright liveable future, mayors are opening their cities to refugees and delivering innovative green solutions to improve people’s lives. Our political project is based on their fights, on their energy, on their hopes and their commitment and a will to build a fair, democratic, feminist and green world.
It is therefore with the strength of our unity and with the richness of our diversity, from Berlin to Lisbon, from Paris to Athens, from the northern forests of Finland to the shores of Malta, from government ministers to activists in the streets that we are standing ready, as European Greens, for the campaign that shall lead to a common success in 2024.
COMMON EUROPEAN GREEN CAMPAIGN 2024
Our world has evolved rapidly since the last European elections in 2019. As the pandemic and the war brought Europeans closer together than ever, we as European Greens are more united than ever, and sharing the same values, principles, and vision for Europe.
We further developed a European project based on the unwavering conviction that national governments alone cannot face the challenges of today. The European project is more important than ever. We will run a strong pro-European campaign and build on the current momentum of European solidarity in the face of multiple crises. European integration is at the core of our political project.
Our Green family has evolved. We will enter the campaign with the most diverse composition of our political family to date, ranging from parties who are in local and national government in diverse coalitions, to parties with no national or regional representation. More parties have joined us, growing our impact across Europe especially in the East and South.
The role of the European Green Party and of this common campaign for the next European Elections is essential. We guarantee cohesion, and ensure that we are all rowing in the same direction despite our diversity. We will put a strong emphasis on highlighting the Green successes at all levels, and ensure that our priorities for the next mandate of the European Parliament are crystal clear. For this we will engage in dialogue with civil society to be their partners on our common path.
With our campaign, building on the strong result of 2019 and taking with us the lessons learned, we aim at achieving the best result we ever achieved in European elections. We want to grow as a group with more MEPs from more countries making us more diverse yet even more united and therefore an even stronger political force in the next term. This will position us to be at the centre of future majorities in the next European Parliament and have representation in the next European Commission, always with the goal of implementing as much of our common manifesto as possible. During our campaign, we also want to grow as a political party, which will jointly fight for what we believe in, support, share and learn from each other while cooperating closer than ever with our partners in civil society.
INVOLVING MEMBER PARTIES & PARTNERS
To achieve these goals, we will develop our common campaign together with our member parties and partners.
Manifesto WG
Following a series of preliminary discussion groups, the Editorial Working Group is leading the drafting of the manifesto process guided by the Manifesto Working Group, composed of representatives from all EU member parties in close cooperation and exchange with our civil society partners. We will adopt our Manifesto at an Extended Congress in early 2024, together with a list of priorities.
Campaign WG
The work on the common campaign is guided by the Campaign Working Group, which consists of representatives of the EU member parties. They will ensure close coordination between the national and European campaigns, discuss, and provide input on the EGP campaign, bring the necessary knowledge of the national campaign, and share information about the EGP campaign within their party. The Campaign Advisory Group consists of a small group of campaign experts and politicians that will provide support in further defining the campaign.
Cooperation with partners
Through the last years, we have worked on ever closer relationships, cooperation and strategic alignment with the Green Group in the European Parliament and the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG). For our upcoming campaign, this cooperation will be vital. We will all be involved in the Information Campaign of the Green Group and the facilitation of information transfer to the member parties. We will coordinate on key campaign messages and collaborate on
the organisation of a Social Summit in Madrid this autumn. Our cooperation with FYEG will be key to create a strong mobilisation of young and first-time voters.
COMMON POSITION BUILDING
Common Manifesto
We have already started the process of drafting a common manifesto that will present our Green vision for Europe and will function as our political programme during the campaign. With this we aim to bring the European Green parties closer by fostering further dialogue on our common vision, positions, and policy proposals for the European Union.
Listening process
We can only push for the fundamental transition of our societies and economies if we build strong bonds with other societal actors. Within the common campaign, we want to build stronger connections with civil society, citizens’ movements, trade unions, sustainable businesses, youth and seniors’ organisations, and the scientific community, in respect of our respective roles. We will involve them at an early stage in the process of drafting our common manifesto. It is time for a different style of politics. We will open up to new thinking and connect further with partners, including trade unions and the business sector. We need to open up politics to more people and will use the Tilt platform to source ideas for our manifesto from the Tilt community and beyond.
COMMON MESSAGE & TONE
We will enter the campaign with possibly the most diverse composition of our political family to date. In our campaign we will balance our strong vision and plans for a sustainable and fair Europe, while also highlighting the successes we are delivering for citizens. Our message will have to be positive, yet realistic. Hopeful and brave, yet firm and unapologetic.
Green Successes
Greens across Europe are delivering for citizens every day, on local and national level, in opposition and government. We will gather information about all our common Green successes and share and feature these within our common campaign, so that parties can make wide use of this and maximise the impact of Green successes throughout Europe.
Green Data Network
With the Green Data Network, we will ensure that our decisions on strategy are data-based. The network will connect staff members of the member parties, partners, foundations and academics that work on Green issues.
COMMON ENGAGEMENT & ACTION
Leading Candidates
With our campaign, we want to strengthen the European dimension of the European elections. We will Europeanise to the maximum extent the debate around the EU elections, especially in those countries where our presence is quite strong.
To fully Europeanise this election campaign, the European Greens strongly believe in the concept of leading candidates. As in the past, we will continue to insist that voters deserve a democratic and transparent process when it comes to the choice of the President of the European Commission. We will have two leading candidates, elected at an Extended Congress in early 2024 through the delegates of the member parties. Our Green leading candidates will run for the
Commission Presidency.
The Green leading candidates will be the public faces of our common campaign. They will tour across Europe, participating in public election debates and campaign events of our member parties.
Member Party Support and Capacity-Building
Our common campaign aims to support our member parties both in the months leading up to the 2024 European elections, as well as work towards the broader and long-term goals of the European Greens. We will survey our member parties on their needs, in order for the common campaign to best serve our diverse organisational and political contexts. We aim for our manifesto and other
campaign elements to be widely used and as useful to our member parties as possible. And we will continue to support the long-term perspectives and capacities of our member parties, also beyond the European elections. When there is more than one EGP member party in a country, we will strive to ensure good cooperation and campaigns based on the do-no-harm approach in order to achieve the best results possible for the Greens.
Digital focus & community management
Our campaign will have a strong digital focus and put a strong emphasis on community management, in order to activate and engage the many communities we have created and fostered in the last years to be active within our European election campaign. Our TILT community will be a central component, in addition to the communities we have organised around the Local Councillors Network, Campaign Handbook, European Greens Podcast as well as donors and volunteers.
TILT
We have invested in further defining and developing several projects throughout the last years that we will now be able to employ as key elements of our common campaign. Our Tilt platform will focus on organising and mobilising communities and multipliers, as well as supporting member parties and candidates in profiling themselves as part of a transnational political movement. We will be able to test campaign messages with this community, and run Get Out The Vote activities to increase awareness and turnout for the European elections.
Campaign Handbook
The Campaign Handbook will be our central hub to facilitate campaign training for Green candidates and campaigners in view of the European elections. We will continue to support member parties in campaign strategies, tools, and ideas, and foster relationships and exchange on communications and campaign level.
Green Communications Network
The Green Communications Network connects the campaign-, communications- and press staff of the member parties and partners with the aim to network and share best practices and information on the EU election campaign(s) and distribute the EGP campaign within the campaign and communication teams of the member parties.
Local Councillors Network
Our Local Councillors Network will focus on the connection between the European and local level in all its upcoming activities. The network of local representatives will be able to function as multipliers and deliver our messages as the Green representatives often closest to citizens.
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