The European Union
A Precursor to Antichrist's Rule?

and development of the European Union (EU) has been viewed in some conservative evangelical groups (such as Hal Lindsey, et al) as ominous: a move toward the kingdom of Antichrist. The EU has been described, in terms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream image (Dan.2, Rev.13) as the 'feet and toes partly of potters clay and partly of iron' of the Fourth Kingdom, shown later to Daniel as the Fourth Beast (Dan.7), – the confederate allies of a coming Antichrist.

The conceptual association of the European Union with the kingdom of Antichrist arises from its geographical association with the territory of the ancient Roman Empire, of which a world-wide resuscitated form will become the kingdom of Antichrist as the book of Revelation describes.

historical association also exposes an ignorance of Holy Scripture, for the kingdom of Antichrist as Daniel's Fourth Beast (7:7) and its preceding three kingdoms/empires, are not successors to a common geographic area. Their sequence in Daniel is their successive rule over Israel (not the political 'state' but the people), and not over a common territory, so this has no relevance at all to the 'European'-extent of the ancient Roman Empire.

of this prophetic sequence of these empires which controlled Palestine

     is portrayed in Daniel Seven in the four images of –

which then culminates in 4. a Fourth Beast, which Revelation Chapter 13 portrays as a hybrid of the preceding three, such as in its Roman-empire-form in combining these three systems (1. dictatorial in Caesar; 2. legislative in the Senate; 3. democratic in the elected Tribunes).

looking for any similarity of association today, the present day form of government which most approximates with the early form of the Fourth Beast (Republican Rome) is actually the United States of America, where most of the suspicion toward the EU resides. Washington's Capitol is even named from the Capitoline Hill of ancient Rome, as well as its Senate for theirs. The US military has even described itself in its international role as the Pax Americana in parallel to the Pax Romana of that ancient empire of the Fourth Beast, which will arise again in a later form in the terminal phase of this age (see: A Biblical Structure of History).

Remember: continuity of identity of this empire is not in its physical territory but in its character.

unbiblical suspicious reaction to the EU's growth calls for a more complete background to the EU's development, in order not to be sidetracked into an alarmist and negative mentality. Unfortunately this sincere but sad mentality looks for signs of a coming Antichrist as the signs of Christ's return, instead of looking to the activity of the Holy Spirit in His church in anticipation of the Lord's coming Advent.

approach to the European Union should really be determined by God's heart-attitude.

His attitude has its focus on the practical welfare of its people, for He loves them. In this light alone Christians should evaluate their attitude to these on-going developments – with thoughtful appreciation of the following summary history in the light of Christ's continuing purpose in His people of all nationalities: for "God so loved the world (κόσμος/kosmos) that He..."

Geneva. French spokesman, Aristide Briand, proposes 'a system of European Federal Union' in his speech to the League of Nations.

March 5, Fulton, Missouri, USA. Winston Churchill makes his famous 'Iron Curtain' speech.
September 19, Zurich University, Switzerland. Winston Churchill says –

December 17, Paris, France. The European Federalists Union is set up.

March 17. Dunkirk Treaty is signed between France and the United Kingdom.
May 14. Encouraged by Winston Churchill (see 1946), the United Europe Movement is created which is hostile to supranational organs and in favour of intergovernmental cooperation.
June 1, France. The French Council for a United Europe is formed by René Courtin. It is later absorbed by the European Movement (1953). Encouraged by Christian Democrats, the 'Nouvelles Equipes Internationales', that is later known as European Union of Christian Democrats (1965), is also formed.
June 3. The Socialist United States of Europe Movement is formed which is renamed in 1961 as the European Left.
June 5. The Marshall Plan of American aid for the economic revival of Europe is announced.
December 13-14. The Federalist and Unionist organisations meet within the International Coordination of Movements for the Unification of Europe Committee.

January 1. The customs union between Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands enters into force.
March 17. Brussels Treaty (Western Union Treaty) is signed, to include Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the Dunkirk Treaty of March 1947.
April 16. The Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) is formed to coordinate the Marshall Plan. (See June 1947)
May 7-11, The Hague, Netherlands. Encouraged by the International Coordination of Movements for the Unification of Europe Committee, the Europe Congress meets, chaired by Winston Churchill and attended by 800 delegates.
Participants recommend that a European Deliberative Assembly and a European Special Council be formed to be in charge of preparing political and economic integration of European Countries. They also advise the adoption of a Human Rights Charter and a Court of Justice to ensure the respect of such a charter.
June 18. Soviet Union imposes the Berlin blockade.

January 28. France, Great Britain and the Benelux countries decide to set in place a Council of Europe, and ask Denmark, Ireland, Italy Norway and Switzerland to help them prepare the statute of such a Council.
April 4, Washington, USA. North Atlantic Treaty is signed, forming NATO.
May 5. The Council of Europe (for discussion and co-operation) is set up in London.
August 3. The statute of the Council of Europe enters into force.
August 8, Strasbourg, France. The first Consultative Assembly of the new Council of Europe is held.

May 9. In a speech inspired by Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, proposes that France and Germany and any other European country wishing to join them pool their Coal and Steel resources ("Schuman Declaration").
June 3. Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany subscribe to the Schuman declaration.
August 26-28. The Council of Europe Assembly approves the Schuman plan.
September 19. The European Union of payments is created.
November 4, Rome, Italy. The Human Rights and Fundamental Rights Conventions are signed.

April 18, Paris. Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, and the Netherlands sign the Treat of Paris, founding the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

October 23, Paris. Treaty establishing the Western European Union is signed: bringing the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy into the Brussels Treaty of 1948.

Multinational pressure group 'Action Committee for the United States of Europe' (ACUSE) is formed.

March 25, Rome. The six founding nations (see 'Dates of Accession' below) sign the Treaty of Rome ('to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe'), thus creating the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM); in spite of British attempts to undermine it.

January 1. The Treaty of Rome comes into force.

As the EEC tariff-cuts come into force Britain begins to feel excluded from markets that seem most promising.

January 4, Stockholm. The Stockholm Convention on the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) between Austria, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland is signed; as Britain's answer to the EEC. See 1957.

March 10. France withdraws from NATO.

July 1. Ending of internal EEC customs duties in favour of a common external tariff.

June 30. EEC membership negotiations begin with Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom (UK).

January 1. EEC is formally enlarged to nine states and receives sole responsibility for a common trade policy.

November, Dublin. Mrs Thatcher (Prime Minister of Britain) challenges the unfair collection and distribution of EEC income. (See 1984).

January 1. Greece becomes the tenth member of the EEC, helping to secure democracy in that country.

March. Mrs Thatcher rejects a compromise on the collection and distribution of EEC income proposed by Mitterrand, President of France.
June, Fontainebleau. Britain accepts a revised collection and distribution of EEC income.

June 28-29, Milan. European Council convenes the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to amend the Treaty of Rome. (See 1957).
The European Union flag is formally adopted as the official emblem.

July 1. The Single European Act comes into force.

January. The European Monetary Institute is set up

January 1. Austria, Finland and Sweden join the European Union.
December 15-16, Madrid: The European Council agrees on the name 'Euro' for a single European currency.

May 2, Brussels. A special meeting of EU leaders of the fifteen member states decides which states will participate in the common currency, based on each member state's performance in meeting the economic "convergence criteria" set out in the Maastricht Treaty, including sound management in the areas of public finances, price stability, exchange rates, and interest rates.
June 1. The European Central Bank is formed as successor to the European Monetary Institute which helped regulate the transition for states adopting the Euro.
June 17. Treaty of Amsterdam.

January 1. The euro becomes the single currency for eleven EU member states by irrevocably establishing the conversion rates between their respective national currencies and the euro and creating a monetary union for the single currency, namely: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal.
December. Turkey becomes an EU candidate country. (Turkey is Syria's principle trading partner).

January 1. Greece joins the single currency after meeting the Maastricht "convergence criteria."
November 30. Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System declares –

January 1. The European Union single currency (Euro) is introduced as the official legal tender of twelve of the EU countries, replacing their national currencies.
February 28. The national notes and coins of the twelve member states in the euro-zone are withdrawn permanently and replaced by the euro.

February 1. The Treaty of Nice (see December 2000) comes into force, but most institutional aspects (arising from the Treaty of Amsterdam of June 1998), preparing EU institutions for enlargement of as many as 28 member states, are only to come into force in 2005.

May 1. Ten new states join the European Union, namely: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia – representing more than 100 million new citizens of the European Union.

January 1. Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union, bringing the total number of member countries to twenty-seven.
Irish becomes an official working language of the European Union.
Slovenia joins the euro currency (joined EU in 2004).
October 18-19. All 27 European Union leaders approve the final draft of the Reform Treaty (Treaty of Lisbon) which is to be formally signed on December 13. (See 2009).

January 1. The euro becomes the currency of Malta and Cyprus.

January 1. The euro becomes the currency of Slovakia.
Although initially intended to commence now, the Irish delay in ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon causes a delay in its implementation. The Treaty consists of amendments to –
  • the Treaty on European Union;
  • the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; and,
  • the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
December 1. The Lisbon Treaty becomes effective.
The United Kingdom and Ireland have opted out from the Treaty's change from unanimous decisions to qualified majority voting in the sector of police and judicial affairs; this decision will be reviewed in Ireland in three years. Both states will be able to opt in to these voting issues on a case-by-case basis.

May 9. Europe's Finance Ministers approve a comprehensive rescue package worth almost a trillion dollars aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe by creating the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
June 7. The European Financial Stability Facility is established as a limited liability company under Luxembourg law (Société Anonyme). (The Facility becomes fully operational on 4 August 2010).
The Board of the EFSF comprises high level representatives of the 16 euro area member states, including Deputy Ministers or Secretaries of State or Director Generals of the Treasury. The European Commission and the European Central Bank may each appoint an observer to the EFSF Board. EFSF's Chairman of the Board is also Chairman of EU's Economic and Financial Committee.

January 1. The Euro becomes the legal tender of Estonia.
The Euro is now considered a major global reserve currency, sharing that status with the U.S. dollar.

March 14. A special parliamentary committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering is created by the EU Parliament with a year to investigate infiltration of the EU's legal economy, public administration and financial systems by organised crime, including mafias, and propose ways to fight it.

June 6. EU Paliament recommends that whistleblowers, informers and witnesses of mafia-style crime should be protected EU wide, says the EU Parliament. Members also want an EU-wide definition of the crime of participating in a mafia-style organisation, and an end to bank secrecy, and anyone convicted of a serious offence should be barred from bidding for public contracts for at least five years.
July 1. Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union.
September 21. A special purpose Committee of the European Parliament adopts a package of measures to fight organised crime, corruption and money laundering, setting out an EU action plan for 2014-2019, and blocking organised crime’s financial assets and incomes are at the top of their list.

April 2. The European Parliament unanimously passes a resolution to deny visas to and freeze the EU assets of 32 Russian officials involved in the torture and murder of Russian tax-lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, its judicial cover-up and the continuing harassment of his family, and names the officials.
The complicit officials in Vladimir Putin's Russia are –

(In January 2017 the United States Treasury Department announces financial sanctions and visa bans on powerful senior law-enforcement official Aleksandr Bastrykin, as also being complicit in the death of Sergei Magnitsky).

June 12. In the Netherlands, one of the three brigades of the Dutch army, the 11th Airmobile, officially joins the German army. The first step in the formation of a European Union Army.
Hans-Peter Bartels (chairman of the German parliament’s defense committee) states –

March. Professor Frank Schorkopf (professor of international law at the Universtiy of Göttingen) states:

October 14. The European Parliament backs a motion that calls the massacre a century ago of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces a "genocide", days after Pope Francis triggered fury in Turkey by using the same term. Last year, when Erdogan was Turkey's prime minister, he offered what his government said were unprecedented condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians killed during World War One.

February 19; 21:00 – In Brussels, the UK prime minister David Cameron obtains agreement with other EU leaders for –

Friday night’s 9pm agreement comes after an intensive two days of negotiations in which Cameron held three meetings with Donald Tusk (EU Council President), two with the Polish prime minister Beata Maria Szydlo, and a meeting each with Germany's Angela Merkel, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, Danish prime minister Lars Rasmussen and Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka. The agreement on renegotiating the UK's EU membership is announced by European Council president Donald Tusk, who tweets:

"Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU."

David Cameron calls his referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU for 23 June 2016, after the cabinet formally agrees to campaign to stay in despite six of his ministers openly supporting 'Brexit'.

are forced to extend the deadline to register to vote in the EU referendum after the collapse of the government’s website on 7 June, 100 minutes before the deadline.
It is later alleged that this problem was caused by foreign government interference (Russia and China), but at the time the UK government says it was the result of an unprecedented spike in demand, with more than 500,000 people trying to register on the final day. The report says there were clues that a distributed denial of service attack (DDOS) using botnets – a network of computers infected with malicious software – was delierately used to overwhelm the site.

25: As a consequence of the UK's 51.9% to 48.1% referendum vote to leave the EU, the EU's founding members demand the UK urgently invoke Article 50 and start the process of Brexit.
"There is a certain urgency ... It is in Britain's interest and in the interest of Europeans not to have a period of uncertainty that would have financial consequences, and that could have economic and political consequences." (French minister Jean-Marc Ayrault).

In general: Londoners,
Northern Irish, and Scots vote to remain;
and the English and Welsh vote to leave.

A prominent law firm (Mishcon de Reya
with senior constitutional barristers,
including Lord Pannick QC and Rhodri Thompson QC)
is taking pre-emptive legal action
against the UK government,
following the EU referendum result,
to try to ensure article 50 is not triggered
without an act of parliament.
According to Mishcon de Reya,
the decision to trigger article 50
rests with the representatives
of the people under the UK constitution.
The firm has been in correspondence
with the government since 27 June –
"to seek assurances that
the government will uphold the UK constitution
and protect the sovereignty of parliament
in invoking article 50".
MPs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of Theresa May triggering Article 50, meaning the Prime Minister is on track to begin Brexit negotiations with Brussels in March 2017.
By 498 to 114 - a majority of 384 - British MPs backed allowing the bill to progress to the next, more detailed legislative stage.Ten Labour junior shadow ministers and three whips, who are supposed to enforce party discipline, voted against triggering Article 50 in revolt against Mr Corbyn.

after Scotland’s voters backed remaining in the EU by 62% to 38% in the June 2016 referendum, the former first minister Alex Salmond said it would be a logical option for an independent Scotland to take over the UK’s membership of the EU post-Brexit. Scotland’s future membership of the EU as an independent state has reemerged with Nicola Sturgeon, the current first minister, making preparations for a fresh referendum on leaving the UK and publishing a draft referendum bill last year. Despite opposition among Scottish voters to a fast second referendum before Brexit takes place, Sturgeon has indicated she wants to stage it before the UK formally leaves the EU in 2019

to increase Scotland’s chances of negotiating an unbroken transition into the EU.

liberal MEP from Luxembourg Charles Goerens proposes amendment 882 to a draft report by the EU parliament’s constitutional affairs committee on possible changes to "the current institutional set-up" of the European Union which would allow an associate EU citizenship open to nationals of a country that has left the union but who want to stay part of the European project and retain some of their EU rights. He says –

"The idea is simply to guarantee those who want it some of the same rights they had as full EU citizens,
including the right of residence in the EU,
and to be able to vote in European elections and be represented by an MEP."

January: The UK government looses its fast-track appeal to the supreme court, forcing its ministers to introduce emergency legislation into parliament to authorise the UK’s departure from the EU.
In a judgment, that sets a far-reaching constitutional precedent and upholds parliamentary sovereignty, the court ruled by a majority of eight justices to three that MPs and peers must give their consent before the government can trigger article 50 and formally initiate Brexit.

decision sets clear limits on the extent of the UK government’s executive powers. Rights embedded in the law by the 1972 European Communities Act, which took the UK into what was then the European Community, cannot be removed by the government’s prerogative powers, a majority of the justices have declared.

The European parliament’s chief Brexit-negotiator Guy Verhofstadt has warned that America's President Donald Trump, and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are determined to break up the European Union, and are working to stage exit referendums in Berlin and Paris.

The EU faces a looming crisis which could threaten the sustainability of the eurozone as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Greece’s debts are on an "explosive" path, despite years of attempted austerity and economic reforms. The assessment opens up a fresh split with Europe over how to handle Greece’s massive public debts, as the IMF called on Europe to provide “significant debt relief” to Greece – despite Greece’s EU creditors ruling out any further relief before the current rescue programme expires in 2018.

In the British parliament, MPs give their overwhelming backing to the Prime Minister to start withdrawal talks on her terms – by 494 votes to 122. The Bill is now expected to be given Royal Assent on March 7 –

allowing the Prime Minister to formally notify the EU that she is invoking Article 50 at an EU summit later that week.

In the UK – The historic declaration under Article 50 of the EU treaties is signed by Mrs May the Prime Minister and personally hand-delivered to president Donald Tusk in Brussels by the UK's permanent representative to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow. Mrs May says: "The Article 50 process is now under way and, in accordance with the wishes of the British people, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union." The historic declaration, signed by Theresa May, sets in train a two-year process of negotiation under Article 50 of the EU treaties leading to Britain's expected withdrawal after 46 years of membership in 2019.

London is to shift around 100 jobs to the heart of the EU to limit potential damage to the world's biggest insurance market from British Brexit.

The European parliament overwhelmingly backs a resolution detailing its red lines for Brexit negotiations. MEPs in Strasbourg approved the negotiating mandate by 516 votes to 133, with 50 abstentions, comfortably exceeding the two-thirds majority sought by parliament leaders to show unity behind their approach. The resolution calls for phased negotiations in the divorce proceedings, going against the wishes of London, which would like exit talks and discussions of a future trade arrangement to happen in parallel.

It also asserts that the UK must respect its membership obligations until it leaves the EU.

intelligence comes in three categories: individual EU member states, EU structures, and NATO. The actual collection component is done by individual member states; EU and NATO intel structures then collate and share that information. But, with an increasing number of threats to the European continent (including Russia's desire to break up the EU), there is now renewed debate about how effective European intel apparatuses are

and what can be done to improve intelligence sharing.

The European Union reiterates its demand that the U.K. acknowledge where it has financial commitments to the bloc before leaders allow the start of trade talks. "We need a method to be able to reassure the 27 of the solidity of the U.K.’s guarantees," Stefaan De Rynck, a member of the team of EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, says in London, less than a week after a crucial summit at which leaders told Prime Minister Theresa May the discussions hadn’t made "sufficient progress" to advance.

The European Commission announces a Brexit transition period, during which Britain must obey EU rules, should last until the end of 2020. Unveiling the EU executive branch's new negotiating guidelines, chief negotiator Michel Barnier said that during the transition period Britain would remain part of the bloc's single market, which includes freedom of immigration for EU nationals. It would also be subject to the European Court of Justice, while playing no role in decision-making in the bloc during the transition period lasting from the day Britain leaves the union on March 29, 2019.

January: Britain is increasingly likely to secure a last-minute soft Brexit deal which keeps it in the single market and customs union, according to Morgan Stanley. Economists for the US bank said in a research note that the first-round agreement struck between the EU and UK in December 2017 set a "constructive precedent" after reaching preliminary agreement on exit issues.

The European Union is preparing punitive tariffs on iconic U.S. brands produced in key Republican constituencies, raising political pressure on President Donald Trump to ditch his plans for taxing steel and aluminum imports. The EU’s retaliatory list targets imports from the U.S. of shirts, jeans, cosmetics, other consumer goods, motorbikes and pleasure boats worth around 1 billion euros; orange juice, bourbon whiskey, corn and other agricultural products totaling 951 million euros; and steel and other industrial products valued at 854 million euros. The Brussels-based commission, the EU’s executive arm, discussed the retaliatory measures with representatives of the bloc’s governments at a meeting on Monday evening (March 5).
The tariffs included in draft list discussed on Monday can be imposed without waiting for WTO dispute-settlement procedures, according to the European Commission’s briefing to EU government envoys. They are retaliatory measures worth 50 percent of the EU’s exports of steel which will be hurt by Trump’s plan, and hence can be imposed immediately, according to the commission.

The United Kingdom and European Union announce that they have reached a draft agreement on the terms of a transition deal which will take effect once Britain departs in March 2019.

The biggest news from the agreement is the UK's climbdown on the Irish border issue, which threatened to derail negotiations. The UK has finally committed to a "backstop solution" which would essentially keep Northern Ireland in the EU's customs zone and single market after Brexit in order to avoid a hard border with the Irish Republic. The backstop option – known in Brussels as "Option C" – will only take effect if the UK cannot find another way of avoiding a hard border. Prime Minister Theresa May initially said that no prime minister could agree to the deal, because it would likely see new border checks emerge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

agreement between the UK and EU over a 21-month transition period after Brexit has been thrown into doubt after Spain refused to endorse the deal without further concessions over Gibraltar. With days to go before the 27 EU leaders are expected to welcome the two sides coming together over a 129-page withdrawal agreement, including the terms of the transition, Madrid said it was withholding its support. It is understood that Spain, which lays claim to the Rock, wants the legal text to be clearer that it has a veto on Gibraltar continuing to enjoy the benefits of the single market and the customs union. While EU officials are confident they can persuade Spain to back the withdrawal agreement before a sign-off by leaders in Brussels on Friday 24 March, it would be a hammer blow if the full 27 member states were not able to endorse a deal in principle on the transition period,

given the need to offer reassurance for British businesses.

Britain's Brexit transition deal in March 2018 boosts confidence among finance chiefs at some of the country's leading companies, a survey published on Monday showed. Accountancy firm Deloitte said 27 percent of chief financial officers it interviewed after the deal was struck were more optimistic than three months earlier. That compared with 18 percent of CFOs who were more optimistic before the deal was struck. Prime Minister Theresa May and the rest of the EU's leaders agreed on March 19 to keep their existing trade ties unchanged for 21 months after Brexit in March 2019.

The border-free Schengen zone has been put under pressure by the migration crisis, and now security issues have added to the strain.

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