The European Union considering a Eurozone
chief and stronger fiscal unity
The European Union is the partial fulfilling of prophecy described as
a seventh kingdom revealed by Christ to the Apostle John in
book of Revelation. Fulfillment of this prophecy will
be complete when the Antichrist rises to power and consolidates
his rule over the seventh kingdom. We are living in the time of
transition as the European Union struggles with its financial
debts and identity.
The European Union is a product of evolution that has been
ongoing since the end of the Second World War. The desire for a
pan-European democratic institution was the result of the
devastating effects the war had on Europe. The diverse
geopolitical and economic post-war landscape of Europe was
feared to be a latent seed for sprouting another war if Germany
remained independent and communism was not contained. In order
to promote peace and economic stability in democratic Western
Europe, the 1951 Treaty of Paris established the six-nation
European Coal and Steel Community. The member nations included
Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy and Luxembourg. In
1957, the Rome Treaties created two additional communities: the
European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the European
Economic Community (ECC). The Merger Treaty of 1957 merged the
three communities into an institution known as the European
Communities. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 became the core
treaty that eventually established the European Union. By this
time, a total of twelve nations had become members. The significance of this treaty cannot be
overstated. It laid the groundwork for expanding the economic
and political integration of Europe. European citizenship
was introduced in 1993 and laws were being implemented that
overrode local laws of member states. The single currency Euro
was introduced in 1999. The Convention on the Future of Europe
was formed in 2002 to move the European Union closer toward a
constitution that would allow the establishment of a President,
a Foreign Minister and a Charter of Rights. These efforts were
rejected by France and the Netherlands in 2005. Eventually, a
modified framework was ratified by the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.
The goals were the same, but the path of implementation would
proceed through the existing bodies of the European Union. By
this time, a total of 27 nations had become members of the
European Union. Herman Van Rompuy became the first president of
the European Council, and Baroness Ashton became the High
Representative for Foreign Affairs. By January 1, 2011, 17
nations had adopted the Euro as their common currency and sole
legal tender in the economic and monetary union known as the
Eurozone.
Today, the Eurozone is in a debt crisis and it is not alone.
Including America’s debt, the whole world is wedged in a global
debt crisis. Unlike America, however, the fundamental problem
for the Eurozone is that while it is a monetary union, it is not
a fiscal union. Member nations have sovereign authority to
establish their own budgets and make amendments to their
constitutions regarding fiscal policy without direction from a
central authority. Consequently, there is no one in charge to
guide the Eurozone toward a fiscal solution to the crisis. When
economic times were good, there was no reason to seriously
address the chink in the Eurozone’s fiscal armor. Eurozone members are now not only slow in responding to the debt crises but also at
odds in determining how to best find a solution. There are
basically four broad-based plans being considered either separately or
combined: increasing the source and size of the rescue funds and defining
roles for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Financial
Stability Facility (ESFS) and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM); restructuring Greek debt and building
a financial firewall around Greece, Ireland and Portugal to
prevent contagion to Italy and Spain; providing more power to
the European Union to establish fiscal policies and discipline
member states who violate the policies; recapitalizing banks or issuing Eurobonds to
spread the costs and risks across all member states.
The common denominator in the plans is the requirement, more or less, of closer political and economic
cooperation. The leaders of Germany and France agree that there
should be mandatory balanced budgets and a greater coordination
of economic policy. They suggested that the heads of Eurozone
states elect a president of a new economic government. This
would require Eurozone states to give up some degree of economic
sovereignty. There is a growing consensus that a closer union is
the only path to the Euro’s survival. German Chancellor Angela
Merkel stated that as part of a long term strategy the
European Union should not shy away from changing its treaty to
create closer coordination of fiscal and economic policies. The
2002 Convention on the Future of Europe would have provided a
more pliable framework for this, whereas the 2009 Lisbon Treaty
made it more difficult to implement. It is becoming strikingly
evident from the Eurozone’s debt crisis that a monetary union
without a fiscal union will not work. European integration is
progressively moving toward a tighter federation of states.
The magnitude of European integration is unprecedented in
modern history. It can be compared only to the level of
integration by the Roman Empire. The prophet Daniel prophesied
the rise of both empires: the ‘ancient’ Roman Empire and the
‘revised’ Roman Empire, which will not be a ‘revived’ ancient
Roman Empire with Rome as the central seat of power. Daniel
described the ‘ancient’ Roman Empire as ‘the legs of iron with
feet of iron and clay’, and the ‘revised’ Roman Empire as ‘the fourth
beast’. In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John described the ‘revised’ Roman Empire as a ‘beast’. He
described the beast as a ‘seventh kingdom’ under the authority
of a most powerful king [the Antichrist]. This prophecy has been partially fulfilled
today in the form of the European Union and its Eurozone. The
prophecy will be completely fulfilled when the European Union
transforms to a unified kingdom [federated union] with ten kings [leaders] and the
Antichrist rises to power over these ten kings [leaders]. It is important
to understand that the use of the words ‘kingdoms’ and ‘kings’
by the Old Testament prophets and the Apostle John was a
reflection of the political systems of their times. The
political systems of today are represented by nations with
presidents and prime ministers. The Antichrist, the leader of
the ‘revised’ Roman Empire, will usher in the Great Tribulation,
which will end seven years later at the final battle of Armageddon
when Jesus Christ, the Messiah, returns to earth the second time to
defeat the Antichrist and reign as King of Kings over the
nations of the world.
The European Union today is a precursor to the eventual European ten-state federated union.
Believers might be lured to sleep by thinking that the
European Union’s ultimate transformation to a federated union will take a long time. As a sobering reminder, we
need only to consider how quickly the geopolitical map of Europe
changed when European communism vanished in three short years
between 1989 and 1991. Who would have thought before then that
Russia would rise quickly from the economic ashes of the former Soviet Union to fulfill prophecy as one of the
Four Kings of the end time? Like the
economic collapse of the Soviet Union, the debt crisis in Europe
will ultimately reshape Europe and lead to a reconstitution of the European Union
into a ten-state federated union, a seventh kingdom, thus setting the stage for the future
rise of the Antichrist and final fulfillment of prophecy in our
age. Unlike the Soviet Union, however, the European Union will
not permanently disintegrate back to its former independent states any more
than the debt crisis of America will cause its
federated union to disintegrate back to its colonial
territories. The only question now is how and when will the European
Union transform to a ten-state federation? The Bible does not give us details, and God does not ask
us to speculate. When the disciples approached Jesus and asked,
“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of
your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus told them, “Now concerning that day and hour no one knows – neither
the angels in heaven, nor the Son – except the Father only. This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect." [Matthew 24:36,44 (HCSB)]