The New European Constitution: the Last Battle for Britain?

No nation has successfully invaded Britain since the Norman Conquest in 1066. In effect, the European Union may be about to do what the Spanish Armada, Napoleon and Hitler attempted but failed. Many do not realize that the identity and sovereignty of the grand old British nation may be in serious jeopardy. What is the true biblical perspective? Our U.K. correspondent reports.

by John Ross Schroeder

Back in 1940, courageous young British pilots went into the air on a daily basis to meet the might of the German Luftwaffe. After several months of intense engagement, they emerged victorious in what has since been called the Battle of Britain. As a result, Hitler had to call off the planned Nazi invasion of England.

Today Britain faces a different kind of battle, but one that potentially portends just as much danger to its national identity and sovereignty.

A wake-up call

It is high time for the British nation to wake up to its divine destiny. Its enemy is not the European Union so much as its own ignorance and complacency in the face of what is being planned on the other side of the English Channel. On the whole, both British and U.S. citizens have shown very little interest in Brussels. The affairs of the European Union seem remote and legalistic, not to mention vaguely dull and uninteresting.

Says Simon Heffer, a Daily Mail feature columnist: "Europe as a political issue has always bored the public. This has allowed politicians to get away with murder over the years in sacrificing aspects of our sovereignty to unelected foreigners."

So bit by bit, perhaps almost imperceptibly at times, Britain’s national sovereignty has been gradually eroded by clever decision making in Brussels. One prominent member of the Conservative Party referred to it as "serial surrendering." In the 1980s, a former Brussels bureaucrat, Frenchman Jacques deLors, said that by 1995 or so 90 percent of all important decisions relevant to the British nation would be made in Brussels.

He may have been a little off in his timing, but the essence of his prediction is about to become a reality, perhaps in the next year or two. A brand-new European constitution is now being prepared by Valery Giscard d’Estaing, former French president. He chairs the convention that is responsible for producing the draft text. By June 20 a full text will have been published and then submitted to a summit discussion conference in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The road to ratification may be a long and tortuous one. As matters now stand, the constitution will not go into effect until approval by all EU member states. The target date is 2006.
In summary and essence, what does this draft document really say?

The European constitution examined

Consider several clauses about foreign, security and defense matters. Article 1.11: "The Union shall have competence to define and implement a common foreign and security policy, including the progressive framing of a common defence policy." Article 1.15: "Member states shall unreservedly support the Union’s common and foreign security policy in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity and shall comply with the Acts adopted by the Union. They shall refrain from action contrary to the Union’s interest."

Article 1.27: "The Foreign Minister: The European Council, deciding by qualified majority, with the agreement of the President of the Commission shall appoint the Union’s foreign minister. He shall conduct the Union’s common foreign and security policy." Article 1.39 (2): "The European Council shall identify the Union’s strategic interests and determine the objectives of the common foreign and security policy." Article 1.40: "The common security and defence policy shall be an integral part of the common foreign and security policy. It shall provide the Union with an operational capability drawing on assets civil and military."

If these clauses stand, it is not hard to figure out that they spell an end to the type of diplomatic and military support that Britain was able to single-handedly give America before and during the recent Iraqi conflict. Britain will be at the mercy of continental Europe.

Fears about the original draft constitution were expressed by noted British Labour Party member of Parliament Frank Field: "Under the proposed constitution, we will no longer have any real control over national policy. We will be ruled from Brussels, becoming nothing more than a region in the new single European country" (quoted in a Sunday Times editorial; emphasis added throughout). Though some crucial areas of the original draft have since been toned down considerably, the foreign, defense and security clauses remain a real concern to the British nation.

Sunday Times feature columnist and author Ferdinand Mount echoed Mr. Field’s worries: "At the heart of Giscard’s proposals is the intent to replace intergovernmental decision making with a new written constitution for a single European entity. The institutions of this European entity would exercise sovereign powers."

Long-term biblical perspectives

Although the process may already be too far advanced to alter significantly, in the short-term euro-skeptics may partially succeed in delaying tactics and actually get their much-called-for referendum on the proposed European constitution from a very reluctant Labour government. The people of Britain may even decide to firmly reject the euro in the already promised referendum as to whether Britain will join the European currency. It all depends on how much pressure is brought to bear on the British government.

So what really counts is the Bible’s description of ultimate, end-time events in Europe. We are not told the exact day-to-day, month-by-month occurrences that will eventually result in the biblically prophesied Beast power in Europe. But we are told what will happen when the European Beast power eventually comes to fruition. It is a disturbing account!

A latter-day Roman Empire

The Bible foretells that a new superpower in Europe will dawn on the world. This power is prophesied extensively in the Old Testament book of Daniel and in Revelation, the final book of the New Testament.

Four extensive empires are described in Daniel, chapter 2. The last of these and the one described in the most frightening language is the Roman Empire, which would experience seven resurrections over a long period of time. The image that the prophet Daniel projects in the second chapter had 10 toes.

Comparing Daniel with Revelation shows us the ultimate result of these end-time European events. The apostle John wrote: "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour (a short time) as kings with the beast (symbolic of a powerful dictator). These are of one mind (unified), and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb (Jesus Christ), and the Lamb will overcome them" (Revelation 17:12-14).

This biblical passage summarizes the chief events. (To understand the full impact of these benchmark occurrences, please request the following free brochures: "Are We Living in the Time of the End?", "The Book of Revelation Unveiled" and "You Can Understand Bible Prophecy.")

The current efforts to unify Europe may only be forerunning events, building a powerful infrastructure transcending national borders. Usually dictatorship itself is brought about by severe economic, political and even psychological crises among a people, as was evident in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s.

Britain caught in between

Noted author and journalist Paul Johnson made the following observation about Britain’s continuing dilemma: "The UK is wondering, for instance, whether its future is with Continental Europe. Once again, for the British, the Channel has proved wider than the Atlantic" (The Wall Street Journal). Many would disagree with Mr. Johnson and say that Britain’s future is definitely with the European Union—counseling the nation to downplay her longtime special relationship with the United States in favor of Europe.

Jason Beattie, chief political correspondent of The Scotsman, reported, "The former French President Valery d’Estaing raised the temperature in the debate over the new EU constitution yesterday by declaring Britain had to choose between a future with Europe or its special relationship with the United States."

Most observers do not comprehend the vital biblical and historical knowledge that would inform government leaders for which direction they should opt. At one point in Israel’s history it was said of one of the 12 tribes: "Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do" (1Chronicles 12:32). Britain’s present-day leadership shows little evidence of possessing this gift.

A vital missing dimension in knowledge may readily be obtained by requesting our free brochure The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. It explains the historic origins of the Anglo-Saxon peoples. It reveals Britain’s and America’s divine commission and purpose in the world, and why Britain developed an impressive empire that stretched around the world. And, the booklet also tells why Britain finds herself in the somewhat awkward position she is in today. This is revealed knowledge you cannot afford to be without. —WNP

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