EU Review & Call to Prayer
(EURCP) – Next IGC
The values wanted in a European Union
Constitution?
(By Praise & Prayer Ministries
International http://www.EUPrayer.com)
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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”
2Chronicles 7:14 “if My people
who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face,
and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin and heal their land.”
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Our web
page http://www.euprayer.com/ Other
language EU News http://www.euractiv.com/ [fr] [de]
See EU target
prayers at end of report – prepare for the next IGC now.
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Fischer backs away from core
German foreign minister Joschka Fischer has unexpectedly backed away from the idea
of a core
[From EUobserver 01.03.2004] http://euobs.com/?aid=14640&rk=1
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"The
Secret Story of the European Convention"
In short: This book review by
the Robert Schuman Foundation presents Alain Lamassoure's account of his experience as a member of the
Convention on the Future of
http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe/1?204&OIDN=251243&-tt=&1001=65 09.03.04
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Analysis:
What perspectives for Islam and Muslims in
An Overview: The European Policy Centre
http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe/1?204&OIDN=251240&-tt=&1001=65 09.03.04
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A SUMMARY SIMPLE OUTLINE
ON THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION
It is the desire of the
current Irish presidency or the next Dutch one to call an IGC,
Intergovernmental Council, to ratify a new EU Constitution. Prepare for prayer.
"The draft constitutional treaty recommended by
the Convention is a simple document.
As stated by Mr. T. O’Malley TD, an Irish Minister of State,
[1]It draws together the existing complex treaties into a single
logical text. It uses plainer language.
[2] It incorporates the Charter of Fundamental Rights,
with a clearer description of its scope and application. [Without
a mention of Judeo-Christian heritage.]
[3] It describes clearly the distribution of competences,
or powers, between the
[4] Significantly, for the
first time the text contains a clear
statement of the fundamental principles under which the
[5] Under the principle of conferral, it
only has those powers that the member states expressly confer upon it. For
example, member states retain primary
responsibility in such areas as health, education and culture.
[6] Under proportionality, the
[7] Under subsidiarity, it may act only where the intended aim
cannot be achieved by the member
states alone or where it can better [?] be achieved at Union
level."
[In article summarized above and complete
below by Mr
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]
http://www.europaworld.org/IGCAWAR/8_27204/europebraces27204.htm
[Selected parts of
Comments by Peter Sain ley
Which is where on
the 25th and 26th of March the next European Council will be held, with
Nevertheless it
may well be domestic issues that prove the thorniest. Under an economic
strategy decided at
With such an agenda will anyone want to listen to the Irish report that will assess the prospects for reconvening the Intergovernmental Conference on the EU draft Constitutional treaty? More important, with the divisions inevitably excited by such wide international, economic and finance issues, will the Irish ever be able to deliver the prospect of the compromise necessary for the European Constitution ever to be agreed?
All member states - with the possible exception of the United Kingdom - pay lip service to the value of the Constitution. Indeed few would disagree with Mr. T. O’Malley TD, an Irish Minister of State, who explained the logic concisely.
[See outline
format at front of EURCP]
"The draft
constitutional treaty recommended by the Convention is a simple document. It
draws together the existing complex treaties into a single logical text. It
uses plainer language. It incorporates the Charter of Fundamental Rights, with
a clearer description of its scope and application. It describes clearly the
distribution of competences, or powers, between the
This can scarcely
be bettered as an example of compression given that the draft Constitutional
treaty makes up a medium sized book. But while desirable in itself most member states have managed to find in it
something to which they take exception. One reason for this may be, as the Centre for European Policy Studies
pointed out this week, the problem of selling any agreement to a sceptical domestic audience. It is this and not necessarily
the difficulty of achieving some compromise at the European level that may be
the root difficulty. As the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, has said - we want an agreement, but not at any
price.
Although opinion
polls conducted for Eurobarometer have indicated that
three out of four Europeans want to see a constitution in place and
that almost two-thirds would be willing for their governments to compromise,
the road to getting public endorsement of any European treaty can be a rocky
one.
Having completed most of the consultations necessary for its
European Council report,
They can only recommend re-starting the Intergovernmental Conference if they can be reasonably sure of success and with some 20 'open issues,' where there is no consensus, that means many countries will have to compromise voluntarily on some key matters before even reaching the formal talks. Bertie Ahern, the Irish Taoiseach, has made it clear that he won't contemplate re-starting that IGC with 20 issues on the table. He is hoping these can be reduced to a maximum of four.
Whether this can
actually be done no one is quite sure. After a great blaze of enthusiasm
last month for all matters constitutional, with leaders throughout the
Continent calling for compromise and a rapid settlement in time for the
European elections in June, the voices have now fallen silent as
attention has switched to other issues.
It was left to
President Chirac, fast becoming the Grand Old Man of the European construction,
to beat the constitutional drum - even though his chosen venue, the Hungarian
Parliament, was hardly at the centre of European politics. "
Fighting and encouraging words - at least for Eurobarometer's three quarters of European citizens who wish to see a constitutional settlement. But Chirac then followed these words with others that gave an altogether different message.
Saying that he wished
neither to see a Europe that was divided, nor a Europe that was paralysed (by lack of agreement) he suggested that if
the 25 countries could not agree to move forward together then certain
pioneering countries should pave the way leaving the others to catch up -
if they so wished - in their own time. Naturally he hoped that in this case
After last week's
ground breaking Big Three summit between
From their
perspective the meeting of Big Three represented the genesis of a European 'directoire,'- named after the small undemocratic inner
group that ran France after the fall of Louis XVI - that could de facto take
command of Europe's principal strategies. Not so, say the Big Three, but then
they would, wouldn't they?
Will the response
to this challenge be a rush to settle the Constitution before the European
elections this summer? That is certainly a possibility. And that is
surely what the Irish must be hoping for. The need to make progress together,
to avoid the threats of a two-tier
Even so European
Commission President Romano Prodi is reported as
admitting that "we are experiencing a period when there does not seem to
be a clear will to work together." The Commission President has
always envisaged the possibility of a two tier
But in the absence
of rapid direct constitutional progress the outcome may well be a proliferation
of competing member state groups that could render
"We are interested in close co-operation with
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PRAYER
notes for EU target prayers:
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PPmi (Praise & Prayer Ministries International - Hugh
& Norma Jenson Davis) is conducting this multi-denominational ministry
under the mission program of the Assemblies of God
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