EU Review & Call to Prayer
(EURCP) – Post-Election 04
(By Praise &
Prayer Ministries International http://www.EUPrayer.com)
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.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
Other
language EU News http://www.euractiv.com/ [fr][de]
[CLARIFICATION NOTE: We do not necessarily endorse any article or
organization represented, but includes them to let you know (Matt
INDEX
[From euobserver.com]
1.
Shock swing towards euroscepticism in European
Parliament elections
2.
Centre-right group ahead in European Parliament
3.
Constitution remains God-less
4.
Countdown to final Constitution talks begins
5.
Low turnout in new member states
6.
This WEEK in the European Union
(The Economist)
The
fate of the European Union's constitution
***** THE NEWS *************************************************************
1. Shock swing towards euroscepticism
in European Parliament elections - 14.06.2004 - 00:57
Article >> http://euobserver.com/?aid=16613&rk=1
Shock swing towards euroscepticism in European Parliament elections
14.06.2004 - 00:57 CET | By Richard Carter EUOBSERVER /
BRUSSELS - With most of the results counted, it is clear that smaller, eurosceptic or populist parties have triumphed at
the expense of more well-established parties.
The biggest shock for the establishment undoubtedly comes from the UK, where the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), which wants complete withdrawal from the EU, looks to have secured 20 percent of the vote and 17 seats. This result would place the UKIP third behind the Conservatives (polling 22 percent at the time of writing) and Labour (also on 22 percent). And it would leave the more established Liberal Democrats trailing in their wake on 14 percent.
Liberal leader Graham Watson said he regretted the fact that "parliament will have a greater number of anti-Europeans" adding that they will be rather "unproductive members".
Pat Cox, outgoing head of the European Parliament, put a brave face on the result by saying that "though significant and a new dimension in its scale, it must be put in context". He said it only represented 10-15% of MEPs.
Eurosceptics also achieved a major victory in Sweden, where the recently-formed EU-critical Junilistan came third in the election, securing 14.4 percent of the vote and three seats in the new European Parliament.
It was also a memorable night for the populist Vlaams Blok in
And Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National consolidated its
position as
Transparency: a
clear winner
Two candidates running on "transparency" tickets also booked their own tickets to the Parliament. Paul van Buitenen, who became famous in 1998 for blowing the whistle on fraud and mismanagement inside the EU institutions, secured two seats for his "europa transparent" party. And Austrian MEP Hans-Peter Martin, who alleged that his colleagues were abusing the expenses system and ran a "transparency" campaign, also won two seats
PRAY that
the election results [which were affected by your prayers] will provide God the
sufficient support for His revisions to the Constitution.
2. Centre-right group ahead in European Parliament -
14.06.2004 - 02:26
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article >> http://euobserver.com/?aid=16614&rk=1
Centre-right group ahead in European Parliament
14.06.2004 -
The liberals, who were expecting to make large gains this time round, have remained in third place with about 77 seats. However, the groupings may change as the different parties will now start their haggling between one another to shape the future European Parliament.
New
groups?
There has been much talk about a new centrist pro-European party which would play on the divisive elements in the EPP which currently houses pro-European and eurosceptic elements. However, it will take some days for such a group to emerge.
Speaking of the likelihood of such a group, outgoing head of the European Parliament Pat Cox, said that the liberals would have to engage in "considerable dialogue" for such a group.
Leader of the socialist group, Enrique Baron Crespo would not be drawn on the question saying only that his group is "united and cohesive" and had a "clear programme".
Wilfried Martens, the president of the EPP, when asked about the possibility of some parties leaving the EPP told Italian TV that leader of French centrist UDF Francois Bayrou, who was considering abandoning the centre-right for the new centrist party, could instead stay. But he conceded that the Italian federalist Magherita party had already left the EPP. And the rest there is also a rather considerable bag of 'others' who have not yet been allocated to a group or are independents.
Belonging to these others are the Polish populist Self-Defence party
which gained 8 seats and their colleagues from the Polish League of
Families who gained 10 seats. It is also not clear where parties who campaigned
on a transparency ticket such as Paul van Buitenen's
party in the
Summing up the results and the major gains in representation made by eurosceptics and the far-right, Liberal leader Graham Watson simply said he was looking forward "to a very exciting parliament”.
PRAY that
the leadership of the new political groups include sufficient Christians so as
to maximise their influence in legislation and policy
approval.
3. Constitution remains God-less - 13.06.2004 -
Article >> http://euobserver.com/?aid=16609&rk=1
Constitution remains God-less
13.06.2004 -
The preamble keeps the wording "drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist
inheritance of
Both countries are lay states and argued that a separate
article in the Constitution anchoring the status and role of churches is
enough. But it will be a blow for
countries such as
Referring to the paper, an Irish diplomat said "we don't believe it will be possible to get a consensus on the issue; that is why we haven't proposed anything”. However, the diplomat did not rule out that the issue will be left to EU leaders to deal with at the end of the week.
No philosophizing
The Irish have also
cut down the wordy preamble to the Constitution drawn up alone by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the
architect of the treaty. The quote by Greek philosopher Thucydides,
which Mr Giscard inserted
at the beginning of preamble, has been unceremoniously dropped as has the wordy
first paragraph on
"He [Mr Giscard] should still be happy that 90% of his magnum opus remains", remarked an EU diplomat wryly.
PRAY that
what God wants said in the Constitution concerning Him is supported by the
Christians in the IGC [Inter-governmental Council]
4. Countdown to final Constitution talks begins -
14.06.2004 -
Article >> http://euobserver.com/?aid=16607&rk=1
Countdown to final Constitution talks begins
14.06.2004 - 08:57 CET | By Honor Mahony EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A new paper circulated by the Irish EU Presidency on Sunday aims to break the deadlock in the remaining areas in the Constitution before EU leaders gather to finalise the text at the end of this week.
To be discussed on today by EU foreign ministers, the paper suggests an ‘emergency brake’ system as a half-way house between those who are strongly opposed to lifting the veto in justice and home affairs and social security and those who are strongly in favour.
The brake would allow member states to refer a decision back to the European Council - and unanimity - if they feel it infringes either their legal or their social security system. An Irish diplomat said it allows the "maximum amount of QMV (qualified majority voting) while taking into account some countries’ concerns".
British rebate
Meanwhile, the
Won by the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984 as
compensation for the Common Agriculture Policy, the rebate is a bone of
contention for other countries such as
A new article
inserted by
Bickering over
economic policy
Other contentious issues are still very much open and centre around economic policy in the future EU.
Member states are still arguing over how much power the
European Commission should have to co-ordinate economic policies - with several
governments wanting the
Countdown
Diplomats have not
ruled out that economic governance issues, tax questions and whether or not to mention Christianity in the
Constitution will join the big three institutional issues that EU
leaders will deal with on Thursday and Friday.
PRAY that
what God wants said in the Constitution concerning capability of national Christians
to influence legislation and policy is supported by the work and prayer of the
Christians in the IGC [Inter-governmental Council]
5. Low turnout in new member states - 14.06.2004 -
Article >> http://euobserver.com/?aid=16615&rk=1
Low turnout in new member states
14.06.2004 -
Initial predictions put voter participation at 44.2 percent across the EU 25, lower than the 49.8 percent recorded in 1999.Since the maiden elections in 1979 participation has fallen steadily from a high of 63 percent.
One of the biggest shocks of the night came from the ten new
member states who joined in May, where only 26 percent of voters bothered to
cast their ballots. In the 15 old
members 47.8 percent of voters took part according to figures from the European
Parliament, in spite of many countries holding simultaneous local elections,
referenda. At the time of writing, the highest participation was
recorded in
The lowest turnout was in
Outgoing Parliament President Pat Cox issued a mild rebuke to the governments of the new member states for not getting voters out. After the massive mobilisation of voters which occurred during referenda to approve EU membership Mr Cox said "nothing like an equivalent effort was made on this occasion". Leader of the European Socialist Party - the second largest bloc in the Parliament - Enrique Baron Crespo was more circumspect. "They are free people, only in dictatorships there is a 100 percent turnout", he said.
The turnout figures will be enough to prompt another round of self reflection. Indeed it has already started. "What we have to do is to convince the people that they need to vote ... it is important to make the citizens in all the countries realise that their contribution is important", added Mr Crespo.
PRAY that
the new east European countries and their Chrisitan
values have sufficient influence in EU affairs.
6. This WEEK in the European Union - 13.06.2004 -
17:22
Article >> http://euobserver.com/?aid=16597&rk=1
This WEEK in the European Union
13.06.2004 - 17:22 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / WEEKLY AGENDA (14-20 June) - This
week the European Union faces another big test for its political ambitions as
EU leaders gather in Brussels at the end of the week to try and agree the EU
Constitution.
Uppermost in their mind will be the summit fiasco last
December when Constitution talks collapsed in acrimony - a repeat of which
would be extremely damaging. But leaders will not only be dealing
with this tricky issues but also with the highly political questions of who
will be the next commission president, whether Javier Solana will continue as
EU foreign policy chief, and whether Frenchman Pierre de Boissieu
will continue in the highly influential job as deputy secretary general of the
council of ministers.
To prepare for the
Political
wrestling in the Parliament
On Monday, the different groups in the European Parliament
will begin their horse-trading for the final outlook of the
****************
The European Union summit The fate of the European Union's constitution
will be decided at an EU summit in Brussels next week Try, try, try again
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=2747818
From The Economist print edition
The fate of the
European Union's constitution will be decided at an EU summit in
LAST December, they tried and failed. At the end of next week the 25 leaders of the European Union will once again seek to finalise a new constitutional treaty. All agree that a second failure would be damaging for the EU—and might be fatal for the constitution. But success is by no means assured. Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister who will chair the summit, puts the chances of a deal at no more than 50-50. An Irish diplomat close to the negotiations complains that, with a week to go, “literally every one of the 25 countries still has issues they want resolved.”
This may be frustrating, but it is hardly surprising. The arguments often sound both technical
and obscure, but they mostly boil down to something simple: power. How should
power be distributed among EU member countries? And which level of
government—the EU or the nation-state—should have power in a particular policy
area? The deal-breaker last December was the proposed new voting system. At
present, votes are weighted to give smaller countries a disproportionate say. The new constitution proposes to move to
a system of “double majority”, under which a proposal would pass if it
commanded the support of 50% of countries, representing 60% of the EU's population.
The other big institutional argument concerns the European Commission. The draft constitution proposes to abandon the principle that every country should have a commissioner. But this is unacceptable to smaller countries that see the commission as guardian of their interests. Once again, the likely outcome will be a compromise; every country will keep a commissioner until 2014, at which point the commission will shrink to 18 members. [See web page link for rest of article]
PRAY that the structure of the European Union government
will be the one that provides citizens of each country fair representation in
the government
************
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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