The Empire: Building an Empire-5

THE BUILDING OF AN EMPIRE

Former Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington speculated in the 1990’s that “the EC if it were to become politically cohesive, would have the population, resources, economic wealth, technology and actual potential military strength to be the preeminent power of the 21st century.” Cornelius van der Klugt, while he chaired Philips, affirmed: “If we organize ourselves, Europe will grow faster than the US and Japan combined.” The EU is in the process of building its empire. According to Scripture, the EU will become the most powerful empire the world has ever known. EU bureaucrats purpose to transform the EU into a political world power. Former French President François Mitterrand stated: “From now until the turn of the millennium, we have ten years to win the race for Europeans. No institution should escape this critical examination, not the European Community, NATO, the Council of Europe or the CSCE. All should play their part.” Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl declared: “I am convinced this is going to be the decade of the Europeans.”[59]

One motive for European unity is to reclaim the limelight that virtually all of its member countries enjoyed during earlier periods of history. At the start of the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union became the leading world powers. Europe suffered the greatest share of the war’s destruction. America aided in the rebuilding of Europe and provided for its defense through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Although Europe and America stood alongside each other as strong allies, Europeans harbored ill feelings concerning certain American policies. Some Europeans desired a significant place on the world stage.

At the end of World War II, the European dream was reborn, and during the Cold War it crept along. Charles de Gaulle stated in his Memoirs that “Europe by confederation of its nations, can and must be for the well-being of its people, become the greatest political, economic and military and cultural power that ever existed.”[60] From the mid- to late 1980s, a spark rekindled, and the fall of the Berlin Wall added fuel to the fire. The end of the Cold War and the beginning of the New World Order marked a new era for Europe.

The First Step to Political Union

The completion of the 1992 Common Market acted as the first step toward political union. The EU aimed to become an economic power on equal footing with the US and Japan. This proclamation underscores their ambition for attaining superpower status, as many of the member nations had in their history. With the completion of the 1992 program, an economically united Europe became the world’s largest market and largest trader. Edward Heath, former British Prime Minister and an ardent federalist, affirmed: “All history tells us that economic reform is followed by political reform and that political power follows economic power.” The Soviet Union and the United States demonstrated this. It will be the same with the European Community.”[61]

Many individuals view the EU as a solely economic venture among European nations. Skeptics doubted that the EU would ever work together on an economic scale, let alone a political one. Peter Linton, a Brussels-based American consultant, warned that: “You [had] better be ready for the integration process that is moving ahead faster and farther than anyone has realized.”[62] He added that many Americans have yet to grasp the political significance of the process, and to take it very seriously. As evidence of the magnitude of the EU’s potential for superpower status, Lester C. Thurow, MIT’s best known economist, declared: “In the past half century, the world played by rules written mostly by Americans; in the next half century, the world will play by rules written mostly by Europeans.[63]”

While natural disasters are occurring with greater frequency, events on the international scene have experienced more dramatic changes in a shorter span of time than at any previous time in history. As a result, some experts now say that “a year is a long time in history.” In three years’ time, the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Empire collapsed, and Germany reunited, marking the end of Communism and the Cold War, and the beginning of the New World Order. For the first time, an international coalition fought a war in the Middle East. The Israeli-Arab Peace Conference began. Islamic Fundamentalism, resurgent nationalism, and many internal conflicts around the globe emerged. During this time, the European Union signed its treaty on political union.

With the rapid changes sweeping Europe, the Union decided it was time to “renew their vows, the marriage contract of the twelve.” The EU’s response to these changes was to accelerate integration within the EU itself. The revolutions in Eastern Europe turned 1992 from a time of economic reform into the beginning of a political transformation. The European Union would remain the stable, solid core around which Europe would rebuild itself. During an EU summit meeting in 1989, EU leaders declared that “at this time of profound and rapid change, the Community is and must remain a point of reference and influence. It remains the cornerstone of a new European Architecture.”

In 1990, former European Commission President Jacques Delors told the European Parliament that the Community would move fast toward full political union, a full-fledged EU foreign policy, and deep institutional reform.[64] He felt that events in the East and the danger of resurgent nationalism underscored the need for closer EU political integration. Delors believed that these events made it “impossible
to separate the Community’s economic role from its political one.”[65]

Those in the Union feel that the EU is “now perceived as a major power and is expected to be a big-league player.” During Jacques Delors, EU Commission presidency, he took advantage of every opportunity to strive for the unification of Europe. Concerning the Gulf Crisis, he commented, “It is a unique change for this Community to make the new qualitative leap which will make (it) the cornerstone of the greater Europe of tomorrow and
an actor of stature equal to its responsibilities on the world stage.”[66]

It seemed that whatever the event, European Union leaders called for the EU to take a greater political role in the world. These proclamations underscored their ambitions and role within the Union to help it evolve into a leading superpower. This was after all their intentions from early on in the Union’s formation.

One Money: The ECU

To be a truly single market with political clout in the world, Europe needed a single currency. The single most political act that the EU embarked on in addition to forming the Common Market was the decision to have its own currency. Political ambitions prompted the adoption of a single currency. Unionists viewed monetary union as the catalyst that would transform Europe’s economic union into its political union.

ValĂ©ry Giscard d’Estaing, former president of France and founder of the annual G7 summits, stated in an interview that the creation of the single currency would “be seen by people as a major political advance.” He believed that monetary union would “induce a move toward a more organized political Europe.”[67]

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl asserted that the accords signed in Rome would ultimately lead the continent to political union. He went on to state: “One thing is certain, when this Europe 
 has a common currency from Copenhagen to Madrid and from The Hague to Rome, when more than 350 million people live in a common space without border controls, then no bureaucrat in Europe is going to be able to stop the process of political unification.”[68] Former French President François Mitterrand declared: “With a single currency (and other factors), Europe will have the means to affirm itself as the world’s main power…It is not that we have ambitions to dominate, but together, we are already nearly the main commercial power in the world…together, on all markets in the world we will be at least as strong as the United States or Japan.” [69]

In 1979, the European Monetary System began to function. The EMS kept EEC currencies within a fixed exchange rate structure. At the same time, the twelve member nations strengthened and coordinated their economic and monetary policies. European leaders decided in 1989 that all currencies will join the exchange rate mechanism (ERM) of the European Monetary System (EMS) on July 1, 1990.

The EU bears striking similarities to the Old Roman Empire and added one more by having their own currency. The Economist even noted:

“So Europe’s future lies with monetary union? Perhaps, but this also a step back to the past. The Roman Empire remember had a single currency.”[70]

In 1987, the Belgians minted the first silver coins, aimed at the collectors’ market only. Imprinted on the coins were twelve stars, symbolizing the nations of the European Union, and the bust of Emperor Charles V. He was born in the Belgian town of Ghent, and was crowned head of the Holy Roman Empire in 1519. Europeans chose Charles V for the first ever European Currency Unit (ECU) because of the striking geographical similarity between the Common Market and the Holy Roman Empire.[71]

Former Commission President Jacques Santer made monetary union a priority while he was president-elect in 1994. Despite the skeptics’ negative views, Santer showed no signs of wavering. He firmly stated: “EMU is coming as decided and planned.” Santer affirmed: “The euro would be a strong currency.” He summed up the purpose for the single currency when he stressed that “European countries can only be sure of making themselves heard on world monetary affairs if they have a single currency as powerful as the dollar and the yen.” Santer believed that the “euro will be a counterweight to the US dollar in the international financial system.” Santer was convinced that the euro will give the Union political status; he stated that “in the years ahead it will be interesting to see how the euro will reinforce the European Union externally.”[72]

The European Central Bank and the Launch of the Euro

EU leaders determined that the launch of the euro would occur in three stages. The first stage occurred in 1990 when currencies joined the exchange rate mechanism (ERM) of the European Monetary System (EMS) in, 1990. The second stage two called for the creation of the European Central Bank. Based on the German Bundesbank, it is now one of the most important central banks and is responsible for monetary policy covering the 16 Member States of the Eurozone. The EU established it in 1998.

On January 1, 1999, the euro became legal tender. On July 1, 2002, national currencies ceased to be legal tender. Euro bills and coins became the traded currency. Andrew Crockett, while he was general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, stated: “Monetary union in Europe holds the promise of profound change in international finance. The economies sharing the euro could face the world as the largest single currency area and the largest trading bloc.” Fred Bergsten, a leading US international economist who heads the Washington-based Institute for International Economics, believes that the “single currency in monetary union will become a fully equal partner of the United States in all economic terms.” US finance officials are beginning to worry about how the single currency will affect the dollar’s role as the world’s dominant currency. Bergsten predicted that because the euro belongs to the world’s second largest economy, “it will thus immediately become the world’s second key currency.”[73]

In 2002 China’s finance minister Xiang Huaicheng, commented that his government should consider buying more euros as soon as possible, so as to not be overly reliant on the US dollar in its foreign exchange reserves. China considers the euro important, and believes that it will someday be on equal footing with the US dollar. Xiang Huaicheng stated that “it is inevitable that the euro will become some countries’ reserve currency.” The euro has already become a key currency for trade.[74] The euro will increase the Union’s clout in world markets. The euro will develop into a global reserve currency, and will alter the power relationship between the US and Europe on monetary and fiscal issues. It will challenge the dollar’s role as the world’s key currency eventually overtaking it. A later chapter covers this in detail.

The Treaty on Political Union

In April 1990, France and Germany launched the idea of a new Treaty on Political Union that would include foreign policy. That month, after a one-day summit meeting in Dublin, “The Community firmly, decisively, and categorically committed itself to political union,” stated Charles Haughey, the Irish Prime Minister at the time. On December 15, 1990, the Council of Ministers met in Rome at an Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union (IGC).[75] One year later in December 1991, at Maastricht, the Netherlands, the conference convened.

Maastricht’s most solid achievement was the firm commitment to establish economic and monetary union (EMU) involving a single currency governed by a European Central Bank by 1999, which it accomplished. Along with monetary union, the treaty established the beginnings of a common defense component which would evolve with later treaties. Article J.4 of the Treaty on European Union added: “The common foreign and security of the Union, including the eventual framing of a common defense policy, which might in time lead to a common defense.” It paved the way to the creation of a distinct political identity. The Maastricht agreement marked the first step in adding a political dimension to the EU, and transforming it from an economic venture into a political reality. An objective of the Maastricht Treaty was for the EU to “assert its identity on the international scene
through the implementation of a common foreign and security policy.” The Maastricht Treaty, a 189-page document, allowed the EU to forge common foreign and defense policies for the first time. Former French President Mitterrand affirmed: “For the first time in their history, the Union will act together in foreign policy.”[76]

Prior to Maastricht, the EU acted in the area of foreign policy through European Political Cooperation (EPC). This was the EU’s process of consultation and common action among its members in the field of foreign policy. An EPC meeting brought together the Member States’ highest officials, their foreign ministers, and the EU Commission. The confidential telex system (coreu) linked the twelve foreign ministries of the Member States, the EPC secretariat, and the Commission. It provided rapid and secure communications, and reduced the need for holding special ministerial meetings. Through its single, coherent approach, EPC aimed to maximize its influence in international affairs.[77] Maastricht turned EPC into something more than a consultation club; it laid the foundation for a real government. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty changed the name of the European Communities to the European Union and gave the EU the formal title of “Union.”

The Economist, commenting on the treaty, stated: “Believers in a federal Europe insist that the treaty lays down the main elements, if only in embryo, of a future European government, a single currency, common foreign and defense policy, a common citizenship and a parliament with teeth. It is just a matter of waiting they believe, for history to take its course.”[78

Alan Sked, who chaired the Anti-Federalist League, made similar observations and brought out additional points. He stated in The European, a European newspaper that existed during the 1990s and provided excellent coverage of the evolving European Union, that after Maastricht:

The Commission is preparing to become the government of Europe, with Jacques Delors or his successor as executive president. He himself proposed such a scheme to the European Parliament in January 1990, and on June 4, 1992 the former Italian Foreign Minister, Emilio Columbo, introduced 
 an outline Constitution for the European Union, drawn up by four professors. Chapter 4 of this simply stated: The Commission is the government of the Union….The Community is almost a state already. It has its own flag, its own anthem, its own driving license, its own diplomatic service, its own parliament, and its own supreme court. Maastricht will give it its own bank, currency, police force, data bases and army. A Committee of the Regions will be set up to help suppress nation states. 
 All of Europe’s leaders
know exactly what is being planned: the creation of a centralized superstate. [79]

The EU leaders agreed to meet again in 1996, to work out a second treaty on political union. They hoped that the next treaty would complete the process that Maastricht started.

The Amsterdam Treaty

In the summer of 1996, EU leaders met and concluded the intergovernmental conference that led to the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty. The treaty did not accomplish what many had hoped. US leaders could not agree on the issues that needed reorganization. This treaty was supposed to make many internal changes so that the Union could enlarge to include new members. The treaty created a representative to speak for the Union on foreign policy issues; the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy which acted as a junior foreign minister. The Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on October 2, 1997, entered into force on May 1, 1999. It amended and renumbered the EU and EC Treaties, and EU leaders looked forward to meeting again immediately after the turn of the millennium. The Amsterdam Treaty strengthened Union’s powers in foreign policy and judicial cooperation.

The Nice Treaty

EU leaders met and negotiated the Treaty of Nice and signed it on February 26, 2001, as an amendment to the existing treaties. The Nice Treaty overhauled the institutions of the European Union in preparation for a union of twenty-seven Member States rather than fifteen. This treaty also provided the EU with a military structure and staff. Most of the changes agreed upon at Nice concerned power sharing within the European institutions as the Union expands. The treaty, capped the number of seats in the European Parliament and the size of the commission, two of the European Union’s leading institutions. The next chapter discusses them in further detail. The Treaty of Nice prepared for enlargement and added more competencies for the EU including employment policy and a common foreign and security policy to cement the Union’s political union.

The Laeken Declaration

On December 14 and 15, 2001, the European Council met in Laeken with the purpose of providing impetus to increase the momentum of integration. They adopted a declaration of their intention to achieve a simpler union, and one that would have more presence in the world. They initiated a convention run by Federalists V. Giscard d’Estaing, G. Amato, and Jean-Luc Dehaene to write the Constitution of the Union—which, unlike the US Constitution, would become the final treaty, encompassing all of the previous treaties. By October of 2002, the convention presented a draft treaty for the Union. Laeken addressed the transition to euro coins, enlargement, internal market issues, the September 11 attacks, and the Union’s policies on combating terrorism, including their actions in Afghanistan and a declaration of their position in the Middle East. The Laeken Declaration asked: “What is Europe’s role in this changed world? Does Europe not, now that it is finally unified, have a leading role to play in the new world order, that of a power able both to play a stabilizing role worldwide and to point the way ahead for many countries and peoples?” Laeken also issued its “Declaration on the Operational Capability of the Common European and Security and Defense Policy,” and provided teeth to the military structure organized at Nice.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher referred to the decisions made at Nice and Laeken as “one of the most ambitious political projects of our times.”[80] It should be noted that this “ambitious political project” began at the moment of the EU”s inception, for the primary aim of EU leaders has always been a political one, and those who viewed the EU as nothing more than an economic bloc are uninformed.

The Lisbon Treaty

In 2003, the EU drafted its Constitution and in 2004-2005, the EU Council approved the European Constitution (Treaty) and the Member States voted on it and rejected it. The European Council met in Lisbon for a new EU reform treaty (instead of a European constitution.) In 2007, EU leaders signed the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on December 1, 2009. The European Constitution merged into the Lisbon Treaty. The Lisbon Treaty amended previous EU treaties and is more modest than the previous constitutional project. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, which covers freedom and speech and religion, will legally bind 25 of the 27 EU Members. Britain and Poland obtained an opt-out.

Lisbon made changes to the EU institutions. The European Central Bank gained official status of being an EU institution along with the Council of Europe and the euro became the official currency of the Union. The Lisbon Treaty also renamed leading institutions. The High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy created by the Amsterdam Treaty was promoted to Vice President and Foreign Minister of the Union along with other changes to help the 27 member union run smoothly, efficiently and to move it forward politically.[81]

The EU Army

In order for the EU to become the powerful world empire outlined in the Scriptures, it must have a militia. The Antichrist’s army conquers and treads down parts of the world. It lays siege to Israel, and assists in killing all who do not pay homage to the Antichrist.

Since 1946, several European nations have attempted to create military alliances. In 1948, the Brussels Treaty Organization (BTO) formed, but was absorbed by NATO in late 1950. In 1952, the newly established European Defense Community (EDC) attempted too much too soon, and it collapsed. In 1948, European leaders signed the Brussels Treaty—a modification of the EDC. It resulted in the Western European Union, which came into being in Paris on October 23, 1954, and ratified by all members in London on May 6, 1955. Its members included Britain and the six members of the EU. The WEU underwent significant changes.

In 1984 the European defense and foreign affairs ministers agreed to “reactivate” the WEU and harmonize the members’ views on key issues. In 1987, the WEU Council adopted a “Platform on European Security Issues” and declared its intention to develop a “more cohesive European defense identity.” During the 1987 oil shipping crisis in the Gulf, the WEU dispatched military forces—a sign that its vision of a cohesive identity had, in fact, become reality, due to the speed of world events, the WEU gained renewed interest. The end of the Cold War caused German unification, the end of the Warsaw pact, and uncertainty regarding NATO’s role. Prompted by the crisis in the Gulf and by German unification, which meant a larger, more powerful Germany and an uncertain NATO, the EU members decided that their union should include defense. Other potential threats include international terrorism, political instability in North Africa, and threats from the USSR, China, and the Middle East. Some suggested that the WEU merge with the EU.

At the time, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jacques Poos argued that the Gulf Crisis illustrated the urgent necessity of establishing a common European foreign and security policy. A spokesman for former French president Mitterrand advocated: “Whatever the problem, our answer is the same, more Europe.”[82] The WEU admitted a host of new members in the mid 1990’s. These included Greece and the non-EU, NATO member countries of Iceland, Norway, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Finland, and Sweden. The European Council met in Cologne in June of 1999 and decided on a common policy on Russia which was the first use of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and adopted the declaration on Kosovo. In relation to the European Security and Defense Policy, the Council declared that the EU must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed up by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and a readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO.” In 2000, the European Council at Nice established the decision making bodies (Political and Security Committee and a Military Committee reinforced by a Military Staff) and a crisis reaction force of sixty thousand soldiers.

In May of 2001, leading members of the EU’s newly established military organizations, high-ranking officials and military personnel from the various Member States, and members of several European military and political think-tanks met in Berlin for a colloquy where they established the EU’s security concepts and risks. Over four hundred participants from over thirty countries attended and all discussed security issues that would affect Europe and the EU’s development of its own military. Professor de Wijk of the Royal Military Academy in Breda summed up the colloquy’s purpose when he stated:

At the same time, the US must accept the EU as an equal partner. We may have different views, but in the final analysis we share the same historical and cultural background and seek to protect the same values and interests. Moreover, only a military capable EU can help defend common EU-US interests.

Indeed, as the EU has global interests, the EU should develop capabilities with a truly global reach. I am very much against a division of labour where Europe sees to Europe and the USA sees to the rest of the world. For that reason, the security concept of the European Union must contain guidance for the development of power projection capabilities which can be deployed worldwide. In practice, a EU security concept should deal with the following questions: how to link the EU’s military capabilities to its political objectives? Where and when the EU will make use of its military capabilities? What kind of operations will be conducted? How these operations will be conducted? What kind of military forces are required to conduct these operations?[83]

Although the Amsterdam Treaty gave the WEU an integral role in giving the EU an independent defense capability, playing a major role in the Petersburg tasks in November 2000, WEU Ministers met in Marseille and agreed to begin transferring the organization’s capabilities and functions to the European Union, under its developing Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP).

In January 2002, the WEU’s Security Studies Institute and the Satellite Centre transferred to the EU and became the European Union Institute for Security Studies and the European Union Satellite Centre. The Nice Treaty removed the role given to the WEU in the Amsterdam Treaty.

The European Defense Agency is a continuation of the work of the Western European Armaments Organization (WEAO) and the Western European Armaments Group (WEAG). It represents the transference of their functions from the WEU and to the EU framework, and thus continues the decommissioning of the WEU.

The European Defense Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Brussels. Set up in July 2004, it is a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) body set which reports to the Council of the European Union.

The Lisbon Treaty scrapped the WEU and kept the mutual defense clause of the Treaty of Brussels as a basis for EU mutual defense arrangement. The Treaty of Lisbon states the following: “The common security and defense policy shall include the progressive framing of a common defense policy. This will lead to a common defense, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides.”

In February of 2009, the European Parliament voted in favor of the creation of Synchronized Armed Forces Europe (SAFE) as a first step towards a true military force. An EU directorate will direct SAFE with training standards and operational doctrine. SAFE created an EU “Council of Defense Ministers” and a European statute for soldiers governing training standards, operational doctrine and freedom of operational action. SAFE is based on voluntary participation and will lead to the synchronization of the European forces. SAFE aims to develop an integrated European security structure. There will be civil and military capabilities in the member countries’ reach.

According to the November 17, 2009, Times Online, Italy will push for the creation of a European Army after the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty. According to the article, Franco Frattini, the Italian Foreign Minister, said that the Lisbon Treaty established “that if some countries want to enter into reinforced co-operation between themselves they can do so.” This agreement existed with the euro and the Schengen accords on frontier-free travel, and a “common European defense” will take the same approach. Mr. Frattini suggested that if there was a European army one nation can send planes, another tanks and another armored cars. He said this is the idea of a European army. [84]

The EU’s army continues to evolve and will evolve into the eventual powerful military the Scripture’s forecast. The Lisbon Treaty added the necessary foundation for the EU’s military evolution.

The EU and the Nations of the World

The common market is having such a colossal effect on the continent of Europe that all European nations want some form of associate status with the European Union. Even Russia expressed a desire to join. The Union is forming association agreements with the remaining European nations that do not hold EU membership. These nations will enact common market legislation. Some have linked their currencies to the ECU without having any say in EU laws. As this occurs, the EU’s sphere of influence broadens beyond its existing members. The EU is like a giant octopus; its long tentacles reach into the rest of Europe and beyond.European leaders established the EFTA, or European Free Trade Association, whose members included Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, in 1959. In 1984, the Luxembourg Declaration created a free trade area embracing the eighteen nations of both the EU and the EFTA. In 1990, the EFTA and EU foreign ministers opened formal negotiations to create a “European Economic Space,” where goods, services, capital, and people would flow freely between the countries of both groupings. The EEA represented the world’s biggest free trade area, with 380 million consumers. It accounts for 46 percent of world trade. In 1994, European leaders established the European Economic Area. It allows the EFTA countries to participate in the European single market without joining the EU. Since Austria, Finland and Sweden jointed the EU in 1995, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are its remaining members.

On May 7, 2009 the EU inaugurated in Prague the Eastern Partnership. It provides an institutionalized forum for discussing visa agreements, free trade deals and strategic partnership agreements with the EU’s eastern neighbors. Controlled directly by the EU Commission, its geographical scope consists of Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Russia accused the EU of trying to carve out a new sphere of influence. An EU official retorted by stating: “We’re responding to the demands of these countries
and the economic reality is that most of their trade is done with the EU.”

The EU negotiated these various pacts to increase its stature and position in the world. According to Stanley Hoffman, Chairman of the Center of European Studies at Harvard: “Clearly the purpose of the whole effort is not merely to increase wealth by removing obstacles to production and technological progress, but also to increase Europe’s power in a world in which economic and financial clout is as important as military might.”[85]

In addition, as EU legislation extends into these countries, they will come under the EU’s sphere of influence. They will have to adopt EU laws without any voice in EU government. The Antichrist will easily institute his political policies throughout these nations.

The EEA exists as a regional grouping of nations in a common pact. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, Eastern European countries voiced their desire to join the EU. This event marked the beginning of a political identity for the European Union. Eastern Europe looked to the EU for aid and investment, as opposed to looking towards the US and they wanted associate status with the EU which they more than obtained.

The Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EMFTA) is a free trade zone still evolving based on the Barcelona Declaration, a framework plan adopted in 1995 through association agreements between Brussels and each state bordering the Mediterranean. The countries participating include Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia and the Palestinian Authority. The agreement involves trade, investment, and deep political reform which Brussels calls “approximation” of other countries’ legal and political institutions with its own. The aim is a “genuine free trade area as soon as possible.”[86]

The fall of Communism ushered in a New World Order, and thereby paved the way for the revival of the Roman Empire and the fulfillment of the prophecies for the “latter days.” An EU report on Eastern Europe in 1991 affirmed: “The map is being redrawn with the Community firmly at the heart of the new Europe. This Europe is to emerge as a new force in the balance of world power, a fact already recognized by the US of America, Japan, and the Soviet Union.

The Revived Roman Empire

The EU bears many similarities to the Old Roman Empire. European Union leaders such as Former Belgian Prime Minister and candidate for Presidency of the EU Commission, Guy Verhofstadt classify the Union as an Empire. [87]

In September 2007, a reporter asked Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso what type of political entity the Union will be after the Lisbon Treaty is enforced. Barroso responded that the European Union will not be a superstate, that it is a unique organization of free countries that are united, that started to work together in cooperation. He said that the national level is not enough for today’s problems such as climate change. “We are not forming a superstate, there is not such a risk, on the contrary what we are seeing is the formation of something different. The rationale for the reform is keeping the great vision of the founding fathers.” He then called the EU “an unidentified political object, a very successful experiment. In the history of institutions’ we never had such a thing. Sometimes I like to compare the European Union to the creation of empires, because we have the dimension of empires, but there is a great difference from the empires that were created through force, we are the first non-imperial empire, we have 27 countries that decided to work together and pool their sovereignty.” [88]

Geographically, the majority of the EU lies within the Roman Empire’s old borders. The Roman Empire had its own currency and army. It used two languages for everyday communication: Latin and Greek. In the same way, the European Union recognizes French and English. The Roman Empire built roads throughout the whole of its empire. The Channel Tunnel, which links Britain to the rest of the continent, is “the first truly integrated pan-European transport system since the Roman roads.”[89]

The EU’s has its own national anthem, which coincidentally is Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” and the melody for the Christian hymn “Faithful, Faithful We Adore Thee.” The EU has a motto,” united in diversity,” and even its own holidays. EU citizens celebrate May 9 as Shuman Day the date that marked the birth of the EU in the same way Americans celebrate the 4th of July.

The EU’s flag mentioned in an earlier chapter, a circle of twelve stars on a blue background, depicts Judeo-Christian symbolism. The stars symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles, along with the twelve months in a year, and the Greek myth that speaks of the twelve labors Hercules performed to gain immortality.[90]

The EU Capital

Some Bible scholars believe that Rome will become the headquarters of the final world empire. Although Rome is the city where the EU was established, and was the location of the conference on political union, it is not the capital of the new Europe. The capital is Brussels, Belgium, headquarters of the European Commission. Luxembourg is the financial and legal capital of the Union. The European Parliament meets in Strasbourg, France.

Around the time of Christ, Belgium lay just within the Roman Empire’s northern border. It divided the conquered territory from the unconquered Germanic and Russian lands. In modern times, Brussels is centrally located between the EU, and eastern bloc nations. During the first advent of Christ, the world’s population lived primarily around the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, and Rome was central to the Empire. The final world empire will have a sphere of influence over many more nations.

The Antichrist’s headquarters change after the middle of the Tribulation. Daniel 11:45 attests: “and he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” Near the time of the end, the Antichrist will move his headquarters to Jerusalem, which, besides being the Holy City, is more central to the world at large. The Antichrist will, at this time, be in control of the Middle East region.

Revelation 13:2 tells us that the Dragon gives Antichrist “his power, his throne, and great authority.” The European Union is evolving into a world power that will act as the launching pad for the devices of Satan. The Antichrist’s reign here on earth will mimic that of Jesus Christ. While society grows more in line with Christ’s warnings and natural disasters increase, the European Union evolves into the final world empire. Former US Senate Majority leader George Mitchell called “the economic integration of Western Europe
the most important event of our times.” The idea of reuniting Europe has existed since the fall of the Roman Empire. The formation of the European Union will end up becoming the single most important attempt in world history.

The Scriptures specifically state that the Antichrist will raise the Community to its pinnacle of power. The Union will not be as powerful at the time of his appointment. From the signing of the treaty, the Antichrist will have three years to bring the Union to its height of power. This does not include his efforts before the start of the Tribulation. The lust for power that presently exists among Unionists provides the Antichrist with an opportune climate to pursue his demoniac ambitions.

NOTES

  • “Quotes,” EUROCOM Bulletin, four issues: June 1989, July/August 1989, July 1990, December 1990.
    1. Jean-Claude Casanova, “Dealing with Europe: The Dream of the Wisemen,” European Journal of International Affairs, 1991.
    1. Edward Heath, “Britain and the European Community,” Mediterranean Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 1, Winter 1990, p. 23.
    1. Axel Krause, “1992’s Impact on American Business Accelerates,” Europe Magazine, June 1989.
    1. Lester C. Thurow, “Europe Will Write the Rules of Trade,” European Affairs, April/May 1991.
    1. Leigh Bruce, “Europe’s Locomotive,” Foreign Policy, Spring 1990, pp. 69-70.
    1. “Delors Delivers ‘State of Community’ Address,” EUROCOM Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 2, February 1990.
    1. “Quotes,” EUROCOM Bulletin, October 1990.
    1. Robert J. Guttman, “Interview: ValĂ©ry Giscard D’Estaing,” Europe Magazine, May 1997.
    1. Stephen Kinzer, “Kohl Calls the Path to European Unity Irreversible,” New York Times, 14 December, 1991.
    1. “Quotes,” EUROCOM Bulletin, January 1992.
    1. “EMU in Motion: 1878 vs. 1992,” Economist, 22 April, 1989.
    1. “Luxembourg: Use the ECU,” Europe Magazine, November 1989.
    1. Santer Sees Expansion to East Near Turn of Century,” Reuters, 12 December, 1994. “Santer Says Single EU Currency by 1999 Is Essential,” Reuters, 16 December, 1994. “Santer Says No Reason to Worry about French on EMU,” Reuters Financial Report, 20 June, 1997. “Focus Davos US Officials See Solid Stable Euro,” Reuters World Report, 31 January, 1998. “EU Sees euro Bolstering Global Political Clout,” Reuters World Report, 30 January, 1998.
    1. Klaus Engelen, “Why US Is Beginning to Worry about the Euro,” European, January 9-15, 1997.
    1. “Euro: An International Currency,” Federalist Debate, Torino, Italy, Year XV, Number 1, March 2002.
    1. “Dublin Summit,” Europe, May 1990.
    1. Bruce Barnard, “Making Sense of Maastricht,” Europe, January/February 1992.
    1. Feld, “European Political Cooperation,” Mediterranean Quarterly, p. 79. See also European Political Cooperation (EPC), Luxembourg: 1988, p. 5.
    1. “Europe: The Deal Is Done,” Economist, 14 December, 1991, p. 51.
    1. Alan Sked, “The Case Against the Treaty: Maastricht Made Simple,” European, 1992, p. 27.
    1. Margaret Thatcher, “It’s Time to Walk Away from Europe,” Financial Times, March 18, 2002.
  1. For more on treaties see The European Constitution Website, which contains information on the various treaties, http://www.unizar.es/euroconstitucion/Home.htm, “Background Briefing: How the Treaty of Lisbon will make the EU more Democratic,” Federal Union, December, 2007, “EU Constitution,” United Press International, November 3, 2009,
    1. Robert Haslach, “The Western European Union: A Defense Organization in Search of a New Role,” Europe, Jan/Feb 1991. See also Ian Davidson, “Building New Security Structures, View from Europe,” Europe, Jan/Feb 1991. See also Seamus O’Clireac, “Long Term Implications of the Unified European Market: Birth of an Economic Superpower?” Mediterranean Quarterly, Fall 1990.
    1. Assembly of the Western European Union, The Interim European Security and Defence Assembly, “Revising the European Security Concept—Responding to New Risks,” Colloquy Berlin, 2-3 May 2001, Official Record, Office of the Clerk to the Assembly.
  1. Bruno Waterfield, “Blueprint for EU army to be agreed,” Telegraph.co.uk, February 18.2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/, EDA Background Information 2005-2009, European Defense Agency, http://www.eda.europa.eu/genericitem.aspx?area=Background&id=121
    Stephan Nicola, “EU Dreams of Common Army,” UPI Germany Correspondent, Berlin, March,27,2007,http://www.spacewar.com/reports/EU_Dreams_Of_Common_Army_999.html,Craig S. Smith, “Europeans Plan Own Military command Post” The New York Times, September 3, 2003,http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/03/world/europeans-plan-own-military-command-post.html
    “Italy’s Foreign Minister says Post-Lisbon EU Needs a European Army, The Timesonline.co.uk, November 17, 2009, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6917652.ece

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1167247/Now-Armed-Forces-offer-EU-catalogue.html, Wikipedia contributors, “Synchronized Armed Forces Europe,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Synochronized Armed Forces Europe &oldid=323985108 and also Wiki:Synchronized Armed Forces, Wapedia,

Bruno Waterfield, “Blueprint for EU Army to Be Agreed, Telegraph.co.uk, Brussels, February 18, 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/4689736/Blueprint-for-EU-army-to-be-agreed.html

    1. “Quotes,” EUROCOM Bulletin, May 1991.
    1. “EU eyes Mediterranean free trade area by 2010” Eurativ.com,
      November 2005, http://www.euractiv.com/en/east-mediterranean/eu-eyes-mediterranean-free-trade-area-2010/article-149382
    1. Guy Verhofstadt, “The Financial Crisis Three Ways Out for Europe,” GĂŒtersloh, November 2008
  1. Barrosso: European Union is ‘Empire’ short version, EUXTV, July 10, 2007

Jose Manuel Barroso, Lisbon Treaty: What they Said: Jose Manual Barroso, BBC.co.uk, September 30, 2009

    1. Leigh Bruce, “Europe’s Locomotive,” Foreign Policy, Spring 1990, p. 88.
  1. EU-Forgotten Flag, AP, 24 March 1997.

The Empire: Bible Prophecy and the EU -Free Edition

 

The Empire: EU and Bible Prophecy-INT

The Empire: As was time of Noah and Lot-1

The Empire: The Antichrist-2

The Empire:Mother of Harlots -3

The Empire: Cornerstone for Uniting the World-4

The Empire: Building an Empire-5

The Empire: Seat of Antichrist- 6

The Empire: Ten Kings-3 Plucked up by roots- 7

The Empire:Mark of the Beast-8

The Empire: United States in Prophecy- 9

The Empire: Israel Peace Treaty -10

The Empire: The Tribulation is Coming- 11

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