From Maastricht to Brussels: Powering up the EU with Reinier van Lanschot and Volt

Europe in a nutshell 

As you might have guessed from our names, we are French and Dutch students. We are also writers for a student newspaper in Maastricht. But above all, we are young European citizens, attached to improving the EU that we believe in. 

And we are not alone. Looking at recent news events and elections in Europe, there is a large attachment of the young generation to causes that shape the future of the continent. Among young voters, many of them tend to turn to progressive and pro-European parties like D66 in the Netherlands, the Greens in France, the “Third Way” in Poland, and many more. 

However, even if some young people are supporting these pro-European parties, there is, for the majority of today’s youth, a feeling of disconnection between politics and their aspirations. This is also visible in election results. As detailed in this study of the Council of Europe after the 2024 European elections, there is a polarization in the young generation between the support for pro-EU parties and far-right parties like the German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), or the Rassemblement National (RN). 

Furthermore, according to a recent report of the European Parliament, 70% of the young population surveyed think that they do not influence the decision-making processes involved in the creation of laws and policies affecting the EU as a whole. As this report expresses, it directly translates into a feeling of disconnection and distance between the European institutions and the youth. 

So, we wanted to understand how the aspirations of European youth are echoed in political institutions today, and what is necessary to bridge the gap between youth and European politics. To do so, we decided to ask our questions to someone directly involved in the making of European decisions. Since he accepted our invitation, we came to ask our questions to Reinier van Lanschot, a member of the European Parliament since 2024, a cofounder of VOLT Netherlands, a proud citizen of Europe… and Maastricht! 

Common identity in the making 

While many students in Maastricht, meeting daily with classmates from across all of the EU’s member states, live the benefits of the Union, this is the exception, not the norm. Many (young) Europeans do not feel they have a European identity besides their national one. As a party explicitly aiming to bring Europe together and crossing national borders as the first pan-European political organisation, we wondered how Volt aimed to change that.

Maastricht Diplomat (MD): You have written a book on European identity (We are Europe, 2024). How can you define the notion of “European identity”?

Reinier van Lanschot (RvL): We are Europe. European cooperation is a given; many young people born after the fall of the Berlin Wall don’t know anything better than the existence of Europe. By promoting cultural diversity under a European umbrella, we facilitate a shared European identity. Feeling connected to each other as Europeans makes cooperation easier because it increases mutual solidarity and trust.

MD: Would you say that the current young European generation feels “European”? How can we enhance a “feeling of belonging”? 

RvL: Through exchanges, such as the Erasmus programme, where you get to know other Europeans. And throughout time, whereas my parents can still remember border crossings and the Dutch ‘gulden’ [Dutch currency before the Euro], this is no longer an issue for people of my generation and younger. As Europeans, we are already so much more connected to each other.

MD: If European identity is essential to the future of the EU, what risks arise when young people do not feel a sense of belonging to it? 

RvL: Then you start to rebel against it, which is a very human reaction when you feel excluded. So it is up to all of us to involve everyone in Europe: European identity is not shaped by a small group of citizens in an ivory tower, but by everyone in all their cultural diversity and variety. We are all Europe.

MD: How can a potential European identity incorporate the wide range of European identities and moral beliefs?

RvL: European identity exists by virtue of all these different identities. It is certainly not the intention to impose a European identity to replace nationalism, as that would have the wrong effect.

Turning Youth Power into Political Power  

According to a study led by the European Parliament in 2021, more than half of young European citizens (aged between 16 and 30) responded that they do not “understand much or anything about the EU”. This issue is particularly present in the program of Volt, as the party wants to bridge the “trust gap” between the EU and its citizens. More recently (in 2025), the European Parliament issued a new Eurobarometer, in which it is stated that 66% of the European population has higher expectations regarding the role of the EU in current economic and geopolitical crises. Further, 50% of respondents have a positive image of the EU. 

MD: Why do you think the EU and European politics feel like a ‘ver-van-mijn-bedshow’ (“a show far from my bed”) for European youth?

RvL: Not only young people, but almost everyone perceives Brussels as distant. It is challenging to provide a definitive answer to this. On the one hand, it is because European decision-making is longer and more complex than national decision-making, which means that people do not fully understand what exactly happens in Brussels. In addition, there is less media attention for Brussels – there are far fewer journalists here than in The Hague – and 'onbekend maakt onbemind’ (“unknown makes unloved”). 

Many decisions taken in Brussels do not directly affect the daily lives of young people, even though many of these laws certainly have an impact. Take, for example, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), which tackle the power and impact of Big Tech. This affects your use of social media, but you don't always notice it immediately.

For our readers who are not familiar with EU legislation on media platforms, the DSA has been effective since 2024 and aims to protect the users of media platforms against exposure to illicit products or illegal content. The ambition of this text is to create a safer internet environment. Elon Musk’s platform “X” received a €120 million fine earlier this month, under DSA rules. It was a sanction against the lack of transparency of the “verified accounts”, and how this can lead to unfair practices. This goes hand in hand with the DMA, designed to tackle the domination of big media platforms by imposing new rules to balance the digital market. It is aligned with the strategy of the European Commission to guarantee competition in the digital media world. 

MD: With an ever-more aging population in Europe, not all parties are receptive to these calls. How can political parties ensure they are engaged with topics that the youth find important? How do we make sure that youth voices are being heard? RvL: The honest answer is that not every political party is equally committed to issues that concern young people. Conservative parties in parliament subordinate climate legislation to short-term profit maximization. The same applies to diversity. As progressive, forward-looking parties, we have our work cut out for us in this regard. The only thing we can try to do is to make our political party as large as possible so that we can exert more influence on these issues.

The report on youth that we mentioned earlier puts forward the main preoccupations of European young citizens. They are mainly focused on increasing social justice (43% are concerned about poverty and inequalities), fighting climate change (39%), and advocating for better health and wellbeing (34%). 

RvL: Together with other young MEPs, we have started a group to keep the spotlight on the voice of young Europeans. We try to table issues that are important to young people, such as parental leave. And almost every law we make is for the generation after us. Young people and their future are what motivate me in my work in Brussels.

MD: How can different forms of public action, other than voting, be included in the EU decision-making process?

RvL: Campaigns, events, protests, open-eds: there are many ways to make your voice heard besides voting. As a Member of the European Parliament, I see it as my primary task to listen to what is going on in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe and to translate this into legislation that helps Europe move forward. I really need all the input and help I can get. So be sure to email or DM me!

Time for a new start 

VOLT is a young party, created in 2017, with the objective of being the first truly pan-European political party, uniting European people under a common platform. Their main stances are to increase the power of the European Union by reforming the institutions and creating a federal Europe, and to address contemporary issues like climate change and social equality. It is present today in more than 30 countries, even beyond the borders of the EU. 

MD: VOLT is a transnational party with different structures and influences. What are the challenges coming from this international implementation?

RvL: Volt is a bit like a political start-up. We’re active in many countries, but every country has different rules for how political parties work: different laws, different requirements, even different thresholds to get elected. So sometimes it feels like we’re trying to build one political movement while playing by 27 different rulebooks.

MD: How can you create a collective dynamic across the different groups?

RvL: We all work from the same political programme, and this really helps. People across Europe deal with similar issues, from climate change to security and digitalisation. And by staying in close contact across borders, we manage to work toward the same goals, even if the structures around us aren’t always aligned.

MD: Do movements like Volt represent a broader shift toward a more transnational European political consciousness, or are they still exceptions?

RvL: Not yet! At least not on a large scale. For now, movements like Volt are still an exception rather than the rule. But I genuinely believe this is the direction politics needs to move in. The challenges we face today don’t stop at national borders, and our political structures shouldn’t either. Volt is showing what that future could look like!

Today, the party has 5 Members of the European Parliament, coming from the Netherlands and Germany, elected after the 2024 European elections. Their first MEP, Damian Boeselager, was elected in 2019. As they do not meet the requirements to have an independent group (25 members from 7 different countries), they are affiliated with the European Greens. 

MD: What advice would you give to a student who wants to make change happen, but wonders where to start? 

RvL: When I started, I wasn’t thinking about leading a political movement. I was just thinking: Europe has to be better. If you surround yourself with people who share that drive, things can grow incredibly quickly. Don’t underestimate how much influence you already have. The key is to be curious and keep showing up, even when nobody believes in it yet.

If you want to make change happen, the most important thing is simply to start. Look around you, pick an issue that genuinely frustrates or inspires you, and take the first step.

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As students of Maastricht, we thought that it was important to give the floor to a young Maastrichtenaar who is a member of the European Parliament. We hope that you enjoyed this insightful discussion we had with a passionate politician. 

Thank you, Reinier van Lanschot, for your time and interest in our projects!