EU Review & Call to Prayer (EURCP) – 07 January 2004

(By Praise & Prayer Ministries International http://www.EUPrayer.com)

Europe’s constitution - in six months – in 2004 – can Irish do it? – Core Europe? - 2 May 2004 the first Annual EU Prayer Day

The Word

1 Timothy 2: 1,2 "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." [Your prayers implement God’s Word]

John 15: 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who ABIDES in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 7. If you ABIDE in Me, and My Words ABIDE in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you”

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07 JANUARY 04, Praise & Prayer Ministries International – Hugh E. and Norma Jenson Davis

Europe is voting in June 2004. For the latest updates on the Parliamentary elections, party politics, and MEP campaigns don't miss the EUobserver’s new section, 'EP Elections 2004'. Go to: http://euobs.com/?sid=154

Kind regards, The editors, EUobserver

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INDEX

2 MAY 2004 Special New Annual Prayer Day for the EU

France, Germany and UK to co-ordinate positions

Schröder sets deadline for EU Constitution

European Commission is anti-semitic, say Jewish groups

Prodi suspends anti-semitism seminar

Commission: deal on Constitution possible by end of 2004

MEPs criticise EU Presidency for failure of the IGC

Summit failure re-opens debate over 'two-speed Europe'

Irish Presidency to resist two-speed Europe and improve transatlantic relations

A letter from Ireland - Next EU Presidency

A Special Prayer Concern on Religious Freedom

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2 MAY 2004 Special Prayer for the EU

Flemish Evangelical Alliance Recognises First Sunday in May as day of Prayer for the European Union There is good news from Ignace Demaerel in the Flemish Evangelical Alliance. In their meeting of 22 December 2003 the idea of making the first Sunday of May a prayer day for the EU was approved!

It would be great if this first Sunday in May would be accepted by all churches in Europe. Now we ask all of our friends in Europe to go to your respective church organisations and urge their adoption of this Sunday as Prayer for the European Union.

PRAY that ALL EUROPEAN CHURCHES will adopt this plan by May 2004; it will make an essential difference as the politicians plan their various approaches.

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France, Germany and UK to co-ordinate positions on Constitution ahead of spring summit

EurActiv Date: 06/01/2004 08:45

http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe/1?204&OIDN=1506915&-tt=

In short:

France, Germany and the UK will meet prior to the Spring European Council to give momentum to talks on the EU Constitution which are due to resume in 2004.

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Schröder sets deadline for EU Constitution

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has said that agreement on the Constitution must be reached by the end of 2004 or his country will consider going ahead with a core Europe.

Article >> http://euobs.com/?aid=13984&rk=1

PRAY for wisdom for the national leaders

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European Commission is anti-semitic, say Jewish groups

Two of the most important Jewish organisations have accused the European Commission of being anti-semitic.

Article >> http://euobs.com/?aid=13986&rk=1

Prodi suspends anti-semitism seminar - 06.01.2004

Commission President Romano Prodi has suspended preparations for a seminar

on anti-semitism scheduled for next month after two of the most important

Jewish organisations accused the European Commission of being anti-semitic.

Article >> http://euobs.com/?aid=14009&rk=1

PRAY against prejudice in European Union affairs

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Commission: deal on Constitution possible by end of 2004

EurActiv Date: 16/12/2003 08:30

In short:

Michel Barnier has said that an agreement on the EU Constitution should be found during the mandate of the two upcoming Presidencies.

Brief news:

On 15 December, Commissioner for Regional Policy and Institutional Reform Michel Barnier was quoted as saying that an agreement on the EU Constitution was possible by the end of 2004. Mr Barnier said that the EU's Constitution should be settled either under the Irish EU Presidency (during the first six months of 2004), or the following (Dutch) one.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has warned that if the Constitution is not adopted soon and discussions with countries blocking a solution do not lead to a resolution, a core group of countries should work toward further integration in a number of domains. These domains are foreign policy, defence, justice, asylum and immigration, said Mr Verhofstadt.

PRAY that God will run the clock on constitutional approval

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MEPs criticise EU Presidency for failure of the IGC

EurActiv Date: 16/12/2003 15:00

In short:

After listening to statements from the Council presidency and the Commission, MEPs have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of agreement on the EU Constitution.:

Brief news: Italian Prime Minister and President of the rotating Council Presidency Silvio Berlusconi gave a statement on the outcome of the IGC summit at the European Parliament, on 16 December 2003. In his speech, Mr Berlusconi emphasised that agreement had been reached on 82 issues of contention (identified at the beginning of the IGC), and noted in particular the consensus on defence. Mr Berlusconi explained that agreement on qualified majority voting was not possible and therefore the IGC needed to be closed early so that it could finish on a "positive note", to avoid "true failure".

Chairman of the EPP-ED Group in the Parliament Hans-Gert Poettering said in his statement that 13 December 2003 was "not a good day for Europe." He pointed out, however, that the failure of the IGC does not mean the failure of the Constitution.

Mr Poettering emphasised that what Europe needs now is a compromise, which reflects good will and trust between the different Member States. Mr Poettering spoke out strongly against creating a "core Europe". Instead, a common road must be found, he concluded.

President of the PES Group in the Parliament Enrique Barón said he "sincerely regretted" the failure of the IGC, especially considering that 95 per cent of the Constitution's text is already part of the acquis. He addressed an open question to Mr Berlusconi on whether returning to the Convention method would be better to resolve the remaining five per cent of the of the issues rather than opening it to "horse-trading" that takes place at all-night negotiations of heads of state and government.

European Liberal Democrat Group leader Graham Watson said the results of the IGC were a "personal failure" for the Italian Prime Minister. "By your own standards, you failed," added Mr Watson referring to the Italian Presidency's objective of agreeing a Constitution before Christmas.

PRAY that the voices of parliament will be given due weight in the debate.

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Summit failure re-opens debate over 'two-speed Europe'

EurActiv Date: 15/12/2003 08:45

http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe/543589-912?204&OIDN=1506855&-tt=fu

In short:

Following the failure of the IGC summit, politicians are speculating about the possibility of a two-speed Europe. Several MEPs have called into question the efficiency of the IGC method.

Background:

On 18 July 2003, the 105-member Convention on the Future of Europe handed over a draft Treaty on the EU Constitution to the Italian Presidency, the result of 16 months of work. This draft has served as a starting point for the Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC), convened on 4 October.

The IGC met at heads of state and government level on 12-13 December but this meeting, which was meant to finalise a Constitution for the Union, failed to agree over the voting power of Member States in the Council.

Issues:

The IGC meeting was not altogether unsuccessful. EU leaders agreed on the composition of the Commission, namely to retain the one Commissioner per country principle, as well as to increase the minimum number of seats in the European Parliament to five (see also EurActiv, 11 December 2003). Moreover, they agreed not to re-open discussions on issues already agreed in past negotiations.

Two issues were left unresolved which led the EU's political leaders to establish that the EU summit could not be concluded during the mandate of the Italian Presidency. One was the disagreement over whether to extend qualified majority voting (QMV) in areas such as social policy and taxation.

The other more major source of disagreement related to the definition of QMV, with Poland and Spain not willing to give up the voting weight granted to them by the Nice Treaty despite a last-minute compromise proposal by Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi to extend this vote weighting to 2014.

Positions:

Following the failure of the EU summit many expect that new avenues will be sought by countries wishing for further integration, increasing the likelihood of a "two-speed Europe".

Germany and France were quick to announce their intention to forge closer co-operation with like-minded countries. The prospect of Germany and France taking leadership of a pioneer group of countries moving forward on European integration is not welcomed by the UK.

An editorial comment in the Guardian warns Germany and France against taking a "new integrationist fast lane." "Germany and France, on whom great responsibility now lies, should not respond to the crisis over the EU by adopting the same unilateralist approach that they so rightly condemned in the actions of the US and Britain over Iraq," argues the Guardian.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has repeatedly warned Spain and Poland that they will be 'punished' for their inflexibility in the talks on the EU Constitution early next year when negotiations on the next seven-year budgetary period (starting in 2007) will begin.

The chances of concluding a Constitutional Treaty prior to the next round of EU enlargement are considered slight due to other upcoming political priorities, including elections in Spain and EP elections in June.

The two parliamentary observers in the IGC, Elmar Brok (EPP-ED Group) und Klaus Hänsch (PES Group), together with other MEPs have warned that the intergovernmental method is outdated and that the EU-25 should look for an alternative method to conclude the constitutional talks.

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi expressed some degree of optimism following the summit failure: "Those of us who have lived through the long years that it took to construct the European community know that, at times, things can grind to a halt. So let's not lose hope and let's carry on with our efforts"

Next steps:

The responsibility for concluding negotiations on the EU Constitution will now be handed to the Irish Presidency. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said he would wait until March before reconvening the IGC.

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NOW PRAY that God will guide those who will listen, in creating a relationship of nations which will honor and please Him,” that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence."1 Timothy2:2

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Irish Presidency to resist two-speed Europe and improve transatlantic relations

In short:
During its first days at the helm of the European Union, the new Irish Presidency has made it clear that it rejects any calls for a two-speed Europe.

EurActiv Date: 05/01/2004 08:30

Brief News:
As of 1 January 2004, the Irish government has taken over the EU Presidency from Italy. The new Presidency will be working hard to achieve consensus on the constitution after the failure of the IGC in December (see EurActiv 13 December 2003).

The Irish Presidency plans to focus particularly on the following key issues:

Making a success of enlargement and launching discussions on the next budgetary period for 2007-2013 (financial perspective). A recent move by six big net contributor countries to link EU budget talks to constitutional issues has given a new angle to the discussion (see EurActiv 16 December 2003). The possible re-launch of the IGC will be discussed at the spring European Council in Brussels;

Giving renewed impetus to the Lisbon strategy for Europe's growth and competitiveness at the spring European Council

Seeking solutions on asylum procedures and the fight against illegal immigration as well as strengthening judicial co-operation on criminal matters (see EurActiv Justice & Security section)

External relations: promoting multilateralism through relations with the UN, seeking to set up an EU-US summit to rebuild transatlantic relations.

PRAY for the Irish presidency for wisdom and balance in their leadership. (Also see letter below)

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Letter from Ireland [The next presidency of the EU]

A part of a letter from an Irish intercessor about her concerns in her country. Her PM (Taoseach) will be leading the European Union this next six months. The policies in Ireland could affect the form of leadership. Join Mary in prayer.

“Much happening in your 'neck of the woods' as we here take on the Presidency. Looks like it could be an interesting one for our Taoseach (PM) with lots of dissent already about IVF research and some people not at all happy with the Constitution. Decisions have been made by our Government to ride rough-shod over the feelings here on the IVF issue.”

She says she believes her Democracy’s Government in not representing the people!

Mary’s email is moytura2002@eircom.net

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SPECIAL PRAYER CONCERN ON RELGIOUS FREEDOM

PRAY that the issue of Islamic dress codes in France does not affect the status of general religious freedom in France and the European Union.

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Pnpmi (Praise & Prayer Ministries International - Hugh & Norma Jenson Davis) is conducting this multi-denominational ministry under the mission program of the Assemblies of God Western Europe office outside of Brussels, Belgium. The mailing address there is: EMC/EURCP (Gerald Branum.) 45 Chaussee de Waterloo, 1640 Rhode Saint Genese, BELGIUM

This newsletter is also available free by subscription. Please contact us if you would like to receive a monthly copy.

Our email is: eurcp@EUPrayer.com or NjensonDavis3@aol.com

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