Thanks to the efforts of DiEM25 members, the policy narrative for the upcoming European elections has been finalised. It is now time for our Membership to vote on it. Do you approve of the following?

For eight years, DiEM25 has fought against a European Union that has represented everything we oppose as radical Europeanists. It responded to the inevitable euro crisis with a vile authoritarianism calibrated to the interests of the oligarchic rich. It continues to condemn thousands of refugees and migrants to watery graves in the Mediterranean, so as to appease a far-right which the EU establishment has strengthened year-after-year. On the climate catastrophe, it fails to act beyond speculation and greenwashing. And now, it has handed the EU’s keys over to NATO, turning Europe into a United States dependency that Washington can use as it pleases in its dangerous, lethal and, yes, homicidal war games. 

It is time we say, loud and clear: enough! In 2024, the European Parliament elections give us an opportunity to do this.

DiEM25 has collectively developed a pan-European strategy for the European elections in June 2024. This strategy comprises:

• A concise political campaign: Independent Europeans, in an Independent Europe, where the richest pay for the Green Transition; 

• A political platform, based on the above, to facilitate collaboration with other political actors who agree on the pressing importance of these points; and

• The movement will contest the European elections, through its own political parties and/or lists, in: Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy and Sweden.

Below you will find the political text for the 2024 European elections:

 

Lest We Forget We Are Independent

Pressure is building on the people of Europe. A 30m2 apartment is the new duplex. A full-time job is a luxury. Social security unheard of. Spending cuts are the new normal. No longer independent, our existence is adrift on a sea of bills we can barely pay. Meanwhile, we are flirting with nuclear apocalypse and climate collapse – and are unable to take bold action towards peace and climate justice. Our ‘leaders’ appear, more than ever, to be led by strings invisible to the public. Our parliaments have forgotten their role as defenders of the interests of the people.

It might seem that our tools - strikes, protests, petitions, elections - are not making a difference. Yet we continue. Because we’ve seen the system from the inside and exposed its lack of transparency and democracy. DiEM25/MERA25, being fully independent and funded solely by its members, have consistently fought those who consolidate power for their own profit. And we have paid the price, by being vilified, excluded and ridiculed by the establishment media, which only seek to maintain things as they are.

Our Euroleaks exposed the hypocrisy of the Council of the European Union and our Members of Parliament confronted the corruption of oligarchs in Greece. Together with our partners, we have shed light on illegal pushbacks in the Mediterranean. We have, equally, developed realistic proposals to chart an alternative course for Europe. All of this is possible because we are independent. 

Imagine what Europe could do if it were independent.

 

Our Call

Our ability to choose our own path is diminishing day by day while the rich get their way. Europeans cannot afford to depend on the whims of those in power, on both sides of the Atlantic. Our shared future must not be sacrificed for the ambitions of Washington,  Moscow, and Beijing. We must rise up to reclaim independence for ourselves, and for Europe.

DiEM25/MERA25 thus call on progressives to give us their vote and realise:

• Personal and political independence through a universal living income for residents of Europe, along with the opportunity to determine their political future through deliberative democracy 

• Non Alignment: Amicable but independent relations with Washington, Moscow and Beijing

• A People’s Green Transition, paid for by the richest, that leaves no one behind.

Free of constraints, the people in Europe could be the masters of their own destiny - and experience, anew, what it means to be free.

 

The Path Ahead

Universal Living Income

A broad section of society lives month to month. The youth are forced to take up marginal ‘platform’ jobs, juggling unpaid internships and struggling to pay off student debts – that is, if they are lucky to be studying at all. Women bear the brunt of choosing to become parents, while the joy of motherhood is quickly replaced with financial worries. Others are left to scratch a living, while those who choose to create - artists, musicians, ‘cultural sector’ workers - live in a continuous state of anxiousness. Creative independence, a source of pride and dignity, is sacrificed for ‘cost-of-living’ and corporate-sponsored projects. Pensioners continue to suffer from poverty, despite decades of work and social security contributions. 

We firmly hold that greater financial independence, and freedom from stress to make ends meet, will improve social stability and inclusion, emancipate vulnerable groups, enhance gender equality, and alleviate monetary poverty. 

Towards these objectives, we will strive for the implementation of a Universal Living Income in addition to national social security schemes. We envision it to be run through the European Central Bank, providing each European resident with a transactional account into which the funds will be deposited. 

Automatic inclusion into the system will be for those earning below 60% of the median annual income in their country of residence, as a first step. We envision the amount of the Universal Living Income to be initially set at the “social minimum income” in each member state. Importantly, it will be introduced at low levels in all member states and adjusted towards the 60% of median annual income as more resources become available. 

This comprehensive programme will be funded through multiple channels, including:

• Expediting the Financial Transaction Tax (1% on transactions related to securities and derivatives) and introducing a Financial Activities Tax (10% on financial corporations), to raise an estimated €1700 billion per year

• Elimination of tax abuse by wealthy individuals and corporations, which will yield an estimated €180 billion per year

• Issuance of bonds by the European Investment Bank worth €500 billion per year as additional funding for the Universal Living Income.
  

Personal independence goes hand in hand with political independence. Our current system legislates for the rich, while the rest of us merely spectate. Big business deals directly with our institutions – while the rest of us stay on hold forever. Even the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is a mere rehash of a feudal concept. Collecting millions of signatures to only have the Commission 'consider it’ is a continuation of the power of the few over the many – the oligarchy. Bringing power back to the people, in as much as it necessitates the overthrow of the oligarchy, requires seeding the changes that will bring the political transformations we seek – a democratic revolution! 

This means the formation of new layers of deliberative democracy (e.g. democratic deliberation councils comprising randomly selected residents) between the public and elected representatives. We envision these permanent bodies to deliberate and direct critical domains of governance, for example: determining policy, proposing legislation, selecting of senior judges and approving senior appointments in organisations dealing with public goods.

These, and more, have been incorporated into DiEM25/MERA25 national programmes. At the European level, we will begin by replacing the ineffective ECI with a pan-European Citizens Assembly, drawn by sortition across the continent. This body will deliberate on critical public issues and propose legislation to the European Parliament towards its realisation. To achieve our longer-term goal of a democratic Europe, we will commit to convening a series of Constitutional People’s Assemblies to build a democratic constitution for a European Republic. 

We will thus begin shifting power back to the people and start becoming decision makers, ending the domination of the few over the many and initiating the system change we need!

 

A Non-Aligned Europe 

Europe is simply a follower of the United States on all matters that affect international affairs, global trade, and the economy. America bans Huawei, so do we. The United States Congress introduces unilateral sanctions, so do we. The White House deems China a strategic threat, so do we. A continent that was once at economic parity with the United States, is now languishing behind. All the while, in the digital domain, we keep being dominated by large US technology companies. 

As we cast our eyes to the next decade, we see a strong possibility of the emergence of military blocs, headed by the United States on the one hand, and People's Republic of China on the other: generating a wave of destructive forces, from a New Cold War to an upsurge of regional conflicts. These destructive forces risk diverting global action away from cooperation on planetary challenges such as the climate catastrophe. 

We believe that lasting peace and prosperity can be achieved only by replacing all military blocs with an inclusive international security framework that de-escalates tensions, expands freedoms, fights poverty, halts exploitation, pursues social and environmental justice, and ends the domination of one country by another. We are for peace and against war.

This means pursuing a policy of political and military Non-Alignment for Europe. It does not mean being neutral in the face of aggression, but instead, flexibility to pursue pathways to peace even if this means going against the interests of global powers. 

NATO membership, however, stands in the way of advocating for an independent foreign policy for Europe. We would thus introduce an alternative Common Security and Defence Policy for the European Union that will seek to decouple Europe from NATO. Key elements of this programme would include:

• Narrowing down the mission of the European External Action Service (EEAS) to strictly diplomatic means

• Ending formal cooperation of EEAS with NATO, including terminating dual EEAS/NATO command and communication structures 

• Strengthening arms control protocols in Europe, starting with the adoption of the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons across the continent 

• Managing conflicts through a reformed United Nations (UN) and transfer planning and control of existing European military and civilian missions to the UN

• Prioritising the creation of a new “Culture of Peace” through education, journalism and research, while deprioritising the logic of militarised security as envisioned under Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)

• Initiating a Parallel Peace Process, under the auspices of the UN, to a just resolution of wars and occupations in Palestine, Ukraine, Western Sahara and elsewhere.

 

A People’s Green Transition 

Catastrophic impacts from climate change are no longer bound to remote islands in the Pacific. Droughts in one year, floods the next. Ravaging fires followed by extreme cold. Meanwhile, the European Commission, in concert with our governments, has tuned itself to the needs of the oligarchic rich. A new opportunity for profit has arrived - and a ‘sustainable’ one! That a Green Transition is urgently needed is in no doubt - we are however proposing a People’s Green Transition that will have the ultra rich pay for it. Not the rest of us. 

To implement the recommendations of our Green New Deal for Europe (GNDE), we will fight for the introduction of a progressive tax on wealth. This Solidarity tax will be levied on individuals who own directly, or indirectly, net assets of € 2 million or more, thereby leaving 99% of the European population exempt. Specifically, we propose the following tax rates:

• 2% on wealth between €2 and €5 million

• 3% on wealth between €5 million and €10 million

• 5% on wealth between €10 million and €100 million

• 8% on wealth between €100 million and €500 million

• 10% on wealth beyond €500 million.

 

This modest, progressive, tax on the ultra-rich will realise over €500 billion annually. It will require the formation of a pan-European tax agency to ensure that all wealth is accounted for and taxed. Once funding is secured, we will implement the Green Public Works Programme as outlined in our GNDE. This means focusing on:

• Creating decent jobs right across the continent, which will power the Just Green Transition through worker-owned and managed enterprises across Europe

• Funding a major buy-back programme for vacant housing stock and repurposing these buildings for public use wherever practicable

• Refurbishing and retrofitting millions of homes across Europe to ensure that every home is well insulated and in good repair

• Establishing a Mobility Cohesion Fund to make all municipal public transport around Europe free at the point of use or available at a low cost that incentivises its use

• Swiftly decarbonise all power plants, socialise Europe's energy infrastructure and integrate it with neighbouring regions via a Green Energy Union

• Investing in shared public services across the continent, from public parks to childcare centres.

In the longer term, we will aim for a wealth cap to reduce the 30% share of wealth held by the 1% in Europe. 

Do you approve?