Two Speed Europe 'Beginning Of The End' For A United Europe
A two-speed Europe could spell the 'beginning of the end' for a united Europe.

This is the warning from Austrian agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler, speaking yesterday in Vienna.

After the collapse of talks over the European Constitution, French President Jacques Chirac proposed that "pioneering groups" could be established, which could then move ahead at a faster pace than the rest.

Comments
I think everyone who is receiving my alerts is aware that talks over the European Constitution collapsed earlier this month. The main problem was that many of the member countries were not prepared to meet the requirements of the constitution.  This was considered a real setback for the E.U. and looked to derail years of progress.  This looked to push talks into mid 2004. 

Then French President Jacques Chirac made a proposal.  He suggested that those countries, which were prepared to move forward with the constitution, should do so.  This would allow the constitution to be ratified and keep the E.U. roadmap on schedule for the upcoming presidential election in mid 2004.  Those who were unprepared to move forward with the constitution by-laws would come in at a later date.  That's why his proposal is known as a "Two Speed" plan. 

It will be interesting to see if this plan is accepted, and more importantly, how many countries end up going forward in the first cycle.  Could it be possible that ten of the twenty-five members will go forward?  

Of course, this is only speculation and Chirac's plan may not even go through, but it does open up the door to a fulfillment of prophecy.  The Bible predicted that the coming New Roman Empire (kingdom of the antichrist) would comprise of ten nations (Daniel 7:24).  For years most prophecy experts have believed it would turn out to be the E.U., but when their membership swelled to fifteen countries, and then twenty-five, many started to look elsewhere.  That could all change if President Chirac's "Two Speed" plan is accepted by the other members.

I should also say, it's not necessarily imperative that there only be ten nations in the antichrist's kingdom (see Article# 282: ), but if this did reduce it to ten, that would look to be prophecy fulfilled before our eyes. 

Needless to say, it will be very interesting to see what steps the E.U. takes next.

Pastor Malone