From management consultant to European federalist: the political rise of Damian Boeselager
In short: Born into an aristocratic family with a history of resistance against the Nazi regime, Damian Boeselager transitioned from corporate consulting to pan-European politics. As a co-founder of Volt Europa and a member of the European Parliament, he advocates for radical institutional reform, digital integration, and a unified European identity.
Damian Boeselager, born in 1988 in Frankfurt am Main, brings a background in philosophy, economics, and public administration to his role as a politician. Before entering the European Parliament in 2019, he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company and spearheaded Euroskop, a journalistic project that involved interviewing citizens across 20 European capitals. His political trajectory is deeply tied to Volt Europa, a party he co-founded in 2017 alongside Andrea Venzon and Colombe Cahen-Salvador, which promotes a pan-European, pragmatic, and progressive agenda.
In the European Parliament, Boeselager has focused on constitutional reform and budgetary oversight, serving as the rapporteur for the 2022 EU budget. He is a vocal proponent of European federalism, arguing for the creation of a directly elected European government and the establishment of an institution similar to the German Bundesrat. His legislative priorities include the introduction of transnational electoral lists, lowering the voting age to 16, and enhancing transparency in lobbying and political spending. He also advocates for a digital euro to reduce transaction costs, though he acknowledges the potential risks this poses to existing national banking systems.
Boeselager’s policy work extends to crisis management and economic strategy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he criticized the fragmented national responses, calling for stronger supranational cooperation in health. He also played a key role in negotiating the 2020 Reconstruction and Resilience Facility, a program worth 672.5 billion EUR. On the issue of migration, he advocates for a common asylum system and better recruitment of skilled workers to address projected labor shortages, warning that Europe could lose up to 50 million skilled workers over the next 30 years if it fails to act. His approach consistently emphasizes the need for a more integrated, transparent, and efficient European Union.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Damian Boeselager
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