Learn what will happen during the tribulation period from beginning to end
Your comments and questions are always welcome. To send comments and questions please click here to go to our main page. 28 October, 2002 By Stephen Castle in Brussels A "skeleton" constitution for Europe will raise the prospect of a powerful new EU president, a congress of national and European parliamentarians and an "exit clause" for nations that want to quit. The draft document, released today, will be the first concrete sign of the thinking of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president who is chairing a convention of 105 politicians investigating the future of Europe. The document will identify the central issues for a revamped EU and devise a structure for a new treaty. However, many of the most sensitive points will be left unresolved. Mr Giscard's blueprint will suggest that the EU has one unified treaty and gain a "single legal personality" - allowing the EU to sign treaties and sit on international bodies such as the United Nations. The current complex structure that divides policy areas into separate "pillars" will be axed. The document will accommodate the possibility of a new president of the European Council, opening the way for Tony Blair's preference, a powerful leader drawn from the ranks for former prime ministers or presidents. The selected person might be approved by a new congress that would meet periodically to make big decisions. But it will have no detailed proposal for a new EU president, which is contentious because smaller member states believe it will weaken the power of the European Commission. It will also have provision for an "exit clause", allowing nations that want to leave the EU to do so. At present, no such mechanism exists, although the EC treaty was amended in 1984 to exclude Greenland, which had won home rule from Denmark. Again, little detail will be settled and one crucial issue may be left unresolved: whether nations which fail to ratify treaties would, in effect, exclude themselves. Most of the specifics have been left vague because the convention has still to reach consensus on most of its work. The document will be designed, in part, to provoke a debate and help discover a consensus. Mr Giscard's convention is due to finish its work next summer but its conclusions must be agreed by the heads of all EU governments. It may also open the way for the EU to be renamed - Mr Giscard has already voiced a preference for "United Europe", and a slogan to stress Europe's main objectives, such as "justice, solidarity and liberty". Mr Giscard's document follows the Brussels EU summit last week, which brought strong signs of a Franco- German rapprochement. Paris and Berlin now plan to produce a joint paper on the future of Europe, probably in time for the 40th anniversary of the 1963 treaty that bound the two nations. END I have said in the past that I believed that Tony Blair is a strong candidate for the next permanent leader of the European Union. Whoever the next leader is, I believe will be the antichrist. You should know what the Bible says about this final world ruler. Take a look at what Revelation 17:12, 13 have to say: "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." The ten kings will lend their power to the antichrist and voluntarily make themselves subject to him.
It should raise a big red flag that the E.U. is persistently searching for a single dynamic leader to lead them. I can't remember the last time I heard of a country or federation so strongly in search of such a man. This is exactly what Bible prophecy scholars have told us for years would happen. Something else that is alarming. The E.U. as we know it seems to be looking to make radical changes in its constitution. One of the changes is a 'provision for an "exit clause", allowing nations that want to leave the EU to do so. At present, no such mechanism exists, although the EC treaty was amended in 1984 to exclude Greenland, which had won home rule from Denmark.' As I stated in an earlier update, I don't believe that the most recent proposed E.U. expansion will workout due to the financial burden the incoming countries will create. Even though the present number of countries in the E.U. is greater than prophesied, that will change before the tribulation period begins. This new constitution also paves the way for a possible name change. The "United Europe" seems to be the frontrunner. One other thing, you must remember that when Christian's are raptured, the Holy Spirit, which indwells believers, will also be somewhat powerless until the 144,000 witnesses are filled at the beginning of the tribulation period. I say "somewhat" because the Bible will still be on the earth and with it the availability of the Holy Spirit to work. Without the full working of the Holy Spirit, Satan and the antichrist will be unrestrained to work, mold, and build its kingdom. Life on earth will dramatically change and governments will change as well. Pastor Malone