OUT NOW: EU Elections Special

The EU Election Special Issue of the EA Journal is out now.

Ahead of the 2024 European elections, European Alternatives has launched By The Many! Towards a people-powered Europe. By The Many! is a campaign calling for a radical shift in our politics, based on the transformative power of people working across borders. We imagine a democratic Europe in which everyone can live a good life, and which acts to bring transnational justice and a flourishing planet. 

We believe that the profound change that is required in our continent needs to be made by the many. We can imagine, demand and enact this alternative Europe together. 

In order for this to happen, each person needs to be empowered to act individually and collectively to transform social, political, economic and interpersonal structures and relations, both locally and transnationally. The European Union can put in place policies that make this change possible.

We call for a redistribution of power away from the national, simultaneously to the translocal and the transnational. We base the legitimacy of this campaign on declarations from transnational people’s assemblies for eco-social justice, transnational peace, and an end to the climate catastrophe, on the democratic ideas and possibilities they open, and on its involvement of minoritised and underrepresented groups. 

We want to bring into the European institutions the demands collected over decades through assemblies, festivals and gatherings across Europe and beyond, involving thousands of people. Some recent concrete results of these moments are the Porto Declaration for Eco Social Justice (2022), the Porto Declaration for Transnational Peace (2022) or the Palermo Climate Declaration Avoiding Climate Catastrophe (2021). 

Initiated by European Alternatives and created in collaboration with grassroots partners and movements, we present a manifesto for alternatives to nationalism, patriarchy, racism, exploitation and injustice. Together, we want to imagine a positive vision of society that can be transformed and shaped by the hands of the people. 

Our campaign is founded on taking the lead from people directly impacted by EU policies. This means taking the lead from those most ignored by political establishments:

• Racialised communities and ethnic minorities
• Women and gender minorities
• LGTBQIA communities
• Workers and carers 
• Persons with disabilities
• Migrants, asylum seekers and the undocumented

Putting power firmly in the hands of ordinary people is the only way to disrupt the system, and offer a real alternative to the failings of democracy and the false promise of capitalism. 

All our demands are based on the equal protection of people and planet over profit. We are calling for:

• Immediate climate action for a planet in balance
• A world led by workers
• A democratic process that derives power from the people
• Justice and equity for all
• A digital revolution that serves the people

The By The Many campaign is fluid and amorphous – the spirit of the campaign encompass the actions of everyone struggling to transform our world. In this special European Elections issue of the European Alternatives Journal, we platform organisers and campaigners whose demands drive forwards the aims and key focuses of the By The Many campaign. 

In this issue, we draw together contributions from European Trade Union Confederation General Secretary Esther Lynch; 4 Day Week campaigner Aliyah Davies,  Daniell Kopp and Oliver Roethig from UNI Europa, the European Services Workers Union; the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty Initiative’s Dr Ameira Sawas; Kim Claes from Friends of the Earth Europe; Citizens’ Takeover Europe; the European Common Space for Alternatives; the Pact forEquality; FIERCE; European Digital Rights Network (EDRi) and more.