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The EU Commission President, Jose Manuel Barraso |
Barroso – giving his annual state of the union address in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on a key day in the eurozone crisis – differentiated his vision from a super state but said it would require treaty changes. He said "explicit" ideas for treaty changes would be put forward by the commission ahead of the 2014 European elections.
Arguing that "in the age of globalisation pooled sovereignty means more power, not less", Barroso said: "We should not leave the defence of the nation just to the nationalists and populists. I believe in a Europe where people are proud of their nations but also proud to be European and proud of our European values."
The president added that this autumn could prove to be a turning point in the euro crisis if the Greek government "banishes all doubts about its commitment to reform" and other countries "banish all doubts about their determination to keep Greece in the eurozone".
At the same time, the commission published proposals for a supervisory mechanism for all 6,000 banks in the eurozone – and those in any other EU countries that choose to take part – giving overall responsibility to the European Central Bank. Barroso described the plans as a "stepping stone" towards full banking union.
Then minutes after Barroso spoke, Germany's Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled that the European Stability Mechanism – the eurozone's new permanent bail-out instrument – was in line with German law and could therefore go ahead. It imposed some conditions, including that any additional German contributions to the fund would need the approval of the country's parliament, the Bundestag.
After the ruling Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said the ESM's board would hold its first meeting next month.
Meanwhile elections are being held in the Netherlands today following campaigns that have been dominated by the debate over Europe. Opinion polls yesterday showed the mainstream pro-European parties – Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Liberals and the centre-left Labour party – were likely to prevail over the anti-European hard-left Socialists and Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom party.
In Strasbourg Barroso said: "I call for a federation of nation states. Not a superstate. A democratic federation of nation states that can tackle our common problems, through the sharing of sovereignty in a way that each country and its citizens are better equipped to control their own destiny."
He said moves towards a "deep and genuine economic and monetary union" could be made without treaty changes, but to complete the transformation a new treaty would be needed – while acknowledging "how difficult treaty change has become". But he added that this should not "distract" from solving the immediate crisis.
In addition he called for the strengthening of European political parties to tackle the "real disconnect between political parties in the capitals and the European political parties" in the EU parliament.
The commission adopted a proposal for a reinforced legal statute for European parties today, which provides for them to be given EU-level legal status where they currently have to register as Belgian non-profit making associations. Barroso called on all political groups in parliament to present a candidate for commission president in 2014 in order to "deepen the pan-European debate".
Responding to the speech, Joseph Daul, chairman of the centre-right European People's Party, agreed that economic integration had to go hand-in-hand with political integration. "It is unthinkable to create an economic union without a political union," he said. "Our credibility is at stake. Political union is legitimacy. It is more democratic control. It is more participation by our citizens."
And Hannes Swoboda, leader of the Socialists and Democrats, said: "We have to think about a more forward-looking structure for the Europe we share. And therefore we must organise a convention to draft a real constitution for Europe. But first we have to find solutions for today's problems."
But Martin Callanan, leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists, said Barroso was repeating the "same old, tired approach. The solution to every problem is more Europe rather than better Europe". He criticised the commission president for proposing "another long-drawn out academic debate about EU treaty change".
The proposals for a single banking supervisor will, if backed by the parliament and member states, hand the power to grant and revoke bank licenses to the ECB, working alongside national supervisors. The eurozone central bank issued a brief statement welcoming the move.
European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services Michel Barnier, who presented the details of the plan at a press conference, said: "It will be the role of the ECB to make sure that banks in the euro area stick to sound financial practices. Our ultimate aim is to stop using tax payers' money to bail out banks."
Now I am not going to read too much into this at this stage, but it has already been touted that Putin and Barroso are going to run a confederation of the EU and Russia together, and that should start as early as 2013. So let us just see where all of this leads. If what has been suggested above ever becomes the reality then we will be looking at the most fearsome and terrible or empires to ever come to power here on the earth. That is not just scaremongering but is the fulfilment of the Bible prophecies that is sure to take place right before your very eyes.
Just as a footnote to the above, I really do hate to rain on the parade of those poor misguided individuals who think they are going to Raptured up into Heaven in a within the interim future, but they are really beginning to run out of time. So let us face reality and stop trying to bury our heads in the sand. The bottom line is that a Rapture of the church is never ever going to come to pass, so to those who think there is going to be a Rapture it may be time to wake up, or come to your senses, before it is too late.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
