Revived Roman Empire News - the E.U.

[Def]

Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

Hidden with Christ in God.Col 3:3 NKJ)
DreamWeaver I am sorry but I just had to put that in ,what  a good opening that was thank you..Love in Jesus always ..God bless you..Dreamweaver i like you..Def (+¸+)

[Shammu]

European FMs launch new bid to end Lebanon crisis

by Jocelyne Zablit Sat Oct 20, 8:29 AM ET

BEIRUT (AFP) - The foreign ministers of France, Italy and Spain met Saturday with Lebanon's feuding political leaders in a bid to break a long-running deadlock that is preventing the election of a president.

France's Bernard Kouchner, Italy's Massimo D'Alema and Spain's Miguel Angel Moratinos were meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a leading member of the Hezbollah-led opposition, and with Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora in hopes of a breakthrough just days before parliament is to convene for a vote on the presidency.

They were also to meet with Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, the influential leader of the Maronite Christian community, from which the president is usually drawn, and with various other political leaders.

"Today is an important and historical visit," Moratinos said at a press conference earlier at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters in Naqura, southern Lebanon, where the three ministers visited their contingents.

"The three Euro-Mediterranean countries came together with the same purpose -- to help assist and to commit themselves for peace and stability in Lebanon," he said. "It's a very strong sign that the three countries come at a very timely moment where Lebanon has to look forward for hope and peace in Lebanon and the region."

Their visit comes as parliament prepares to convene Tuesday to pick a successor to the current pro-Syrian head of state Emile Lahoud, whose term ends on November 24.

A first meeting on September 24 was postponed due to disagreement among the ruling majority and the opposition and it is feared that Tuesday's session will also end in failure.

D'Alema said the ministers' day-long visit was a sign of Europe's political will to help end the crisis and move forward.

"This afternoon we are going to meet the main political leaders, of course not because we want to interfere in the Lebanese political life but because we want, as friends of Lebanon, to encourage the dialogue and the search of a national agreement in order to provide stability and strengthen the democracy in this country," he said.

The three ministers on Saturday also laid wreaths in Beirut at the tomb of MP Antoine Ghanem, who was killed along with five others by a car bomb last month, just days before the first parliamentary session.

That session was postponed until Tuesday because of a lack of consensus among the ruling majority and the opposition, which includes factions backed by Syria and Iran.

Ghanem was the sixth lawmaker to be killed since 2005 in attacks blamed by the ruling coalition on Syria, which has denied involvement.

Siniora's government has been paralysed since opposition forces withdrew six ministers from the cabinet in November 2006 in a bid to gain more representation in government.

Fears are running high that the standoff over the presidency could lead to two rival governments, a grim reminder of the end of the 1975-1990 civil war when two competing administrations battled it out.

Many Lebanese also fear that another MP from the ruling coalition could be assassinated.

The leading An-Nahar newspaper in an editorial on Saturday termed the one-day visit by the troika of ministers "Mission Impossible."

"The more cooks, envoys, and people with ideas and advice the more fear among the Lebanese about the presidential vote and Lebanon's destiny," the daily said.

European FMs launch new bid to end Lebanon crisis

[Littleboy]

Did you know?
That the E.U is going to vote soon on the time period that a president will serve?
They tried it  a couple years ago!
Right now i think they choose a different Pres. every 2 years?
They want to change it to every "7" years!
Sound familar?
It Should,
Thats how long the Anti christ will rule for !

[HisDaughter]

Right now i think they choose a different Pres. every 2 years?
They want to change it to every "7" years!
Sound familar?

That is interesting Littleboy. 
Could someone please tell me what E.U. stands for?  European something or other I assume.

[Soldier4Christ]

European Union. The European Union currently has 27 member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. There are currently three official candidate countries, Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. In addition the western Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are officially recognised as potential candidates.

[nChrist]

Fascinating Information!

Fast movement and development in the EU is yet another SIGN of the end days of this Age of Grace. YES - Most people who study Bible Prophecy consider the EU to be the revived Roman Empire. The ties are ancient and the players are ancient. It's almost amazing how many ancient entities of Bible times are still with us and fairly easy to identify in many cases.

Bible Prophecy is one way that the Bible proves itself to be GOD'S WORD, and it's more than fascinating how many Prophecies from Old Testament Prophets have already been fulfilled most perfectly. It has to be GOD'S WORD because it would be impossible for Old Testament Prophets to be so accurate in what has already been fulfilled and accurately describe the events of today and what's left to fulfill. As an example, the Prophecies surrounding just JESUS CHRIST and the cross would be impossible without GOD being in charge and the WORDS of the BIBLE being HIS WORD - GOD'S WORD. If an odds-maker were to figure the probability of the events surrounding JESUS to match prophecy, the odds-maker would come up with numbers so large that they would have to be expressed in mathematical terms that most people don't understand. By the way, that odds-maker would also be wanting to know more about JESUS CHRIST and the Cross.

If the events of the end days of this Age were a play, we could say that the stage is set, the actors are in place, and the actors know their parts. They just don't know that the play was written thousands of years ago, nor do they know that they could look in the Bible and determine what they are about to do. Even if they did know, the play wouldn't change and each would do their part perfectly. This is really just more absolute proof that the Bible is GOD'S WORD. The actors just don't know when the play will start, but GOD does!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable GIFT, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour Forever!

[Soldier4Christ]

Why the EU is called the Revived Roman Empire. The Roman Empire at the height of it's existence:




The current European Union:




There are many other nations that are currently under consideration to be added to the EU that were a part of the original Roman Empire.

[HisDaughter]

Thanks for the info and the maps!  This is fascinating stuff!

[Soldier4Christ]

You're most welcome. It is indeed fascinating to read about. A wonderful study on Bible prophecy and to see it come together right in front of us.

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

I think that things are going to get more fascinating by the minute. If these are the end days of this Age of Grace, we simply need to remember that GOD is in charge AND we know that JESUS CHRIST will completely defeat evil for final judgment.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable GIFT, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour Forever!

[Littleboy]

When i was little(12/13)-(1974/75) I told people that Europe would rise & rule the world and that the Antichrist
would come from their goverment!
When i was a kid, people always said that we're the revived roman empire or it was the U.N!
I Praise God, he has always given me the truth!
And i know this, because of what all the preachers are saying!
Exactly what i've been saying for over 30 yrs.
P.S
GrammyLuv
the E.U= European Union...

[HisDaughter]

You're most welcome. It is indeed fascinating to read about. A wonderful study on Bible prophecy and to see it come together right in front of us.

These are truely exciting times that we are living in.  I wake up each day wondering what will be in the news and if today will be THE Day!
Amen!

[Shammu]

Turkey continues buildup along border

By VOLKAN SARISAKAL, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 23, 6:22 AM ET

SIRNAK, Turkey - Turkey sent more troops to its border with Iraq, and its foreign minister flew to Baghdad Tuesday to pressure top Iraqi officials to crackdown on Kurdish rebels who ambushed and killed 12 Turkish soldiers two days before.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, was quoted Tuesday in the country's leading daily Hurriyet as saying that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had talked of a possible joint U.S.-Turkish operation against the rebels during a telephone call Sunday.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan — who was expected to meet in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart and also Iraq's president, both Kurds — had said Monday that Turkey will pursue diplomacy before sending in its military.

The military movements overnight came just two days after a rebel ambush near the Iraqi border left 12 Turkish soldiers dead and eight missing. Several helicopters ferried commando units and pro-government Kurdish village guards for five hours toward the border, reporters said. The governor's office said more combat-experienced units were being deployed.

The airlift of troops late Monday came several hours after dozens of Turkish military vehicles loaded with soldiers and heavy weapons rumbled toward the Iraqi border. Turkish F-16 warplanes were also ready to take off from several bases in southeastern Turkey, according to local reports.

The military launched a major operation in retaliation to Sunday's rebel attack that killed 12 soldiers and wounded 16 others. Since the rebel attack, Turkish troops, backed by Cobra helicopter gunships, have killed 34 guerrillas, the military said.

Eight soldiers were reported missing by the military Monday and the rebel group claimed they have captured the soldiers and released their names. Turkish officials, however, said the search was continuing for soldiers from Sunday's attack and would not comment on the rebels' claims.

If confirmed, the seizure would be the largest since 1995, when guerrillas grabbed eight soldiers and took them to northern Iraq before releasing them two years later.

The rebel group Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, on Monday called on Turkey not to attack Iraq, claiming that a unilateral rebel cease-fire declared in June was still in place although it did not halt fighting.

"We have not officially ended the cease-fire," the group said, according to the pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency. "We're stating clearly that if the Turkish state stops its attacks then increased tensions will be replaced with a clash-free environment."

However, the rebel group said it was determined to defend itself against Turkish attacks.

In Baghdad, Babacan on Tuesday rejected any cease-fire.

Cease-fires are "possible between states and regular forces," Babacan said. "The problem here is that we're dealing with a terrorist organization."

Turkey has rejected several past unilateral cease-fires declared by rebels, saying it would keep fighting until all rebels surrender or are killed. In the past, rebels have pressed ahead with attacks despite cease-fires on grounds that they were defending themselves.

Sunday's ambush outraged an already frustrated public. Demonstrations erupted across the country and opposition leaders called for an immediate strike against rebel bases in Iraq, despite appeals for restraint from Iraq, the U.S. and European leaders. Funerals were being held for the slain soldiers on Tuesday in several cities.

The United States is pressing hard to keep Turkey from invading northern Iraq and possibly further destabilizing Iraq and the region.

The U.S. designates the PKK as an international terrorist organization.

Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband issued a joint statement Monday urging Iraq and Turkey to work together on the issue.

"We continue to believe that cooperation and coordination between Turkey and Iraq is the most effective means to eliminate the PKK threat," Rice and Miliband said, adding that they had proposed a three-way meeting with the U.S., Iraq and Turkey at a Nov. 2-3 meeting in Istanbul of officials from Iraq's neighboring countries.

The rebel attack occurred four days after the Turkish Parliament authorized the government to deploy troops across the border in Iraq, amid growing anger in Turkey at perceived U.S. and Iraqi failure to live up to pledges to crack down on the PKK.

Sunday's attack raised the death toll of soldiers in PKK attacks in the past two weeks to around 30.

Rebels periodically cross the border to stage attacks in their war for autonomy for Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict that began in 1984.

Turkey continues buildup along border

[Shammu]

EU informal summit ends with new treaty, strong commitment on globalization challenges
11:21, October 20, 2007

Leaders of the European Union (EU) wrapped up their two-day informal summit here Friday, with a new treaty aimed at improving EU decision-making and pledges to better deal with the challenges of globalization.
"We've managed to complete our plan at the summit," Jose Socrates, Prime Minister of Portugal, which holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters at the end of the summit.

"We had a treaty yesterday, and today we went straight into high quality debate on the real issue for the future ... the issue of how Europe can successfully rise to the challenges of globalization," he said.

He said the EU is ready to tackle the challenges of globalization and intends to "lead" the world debate on globalization, in three areas in particular.

The three areas are the redesigning of global institutions, the globalization agenda, which should be an agenda of innovation but not of isolation or protectionism, and the environmental issue, especially climate change.

Climate change is the most severe challenge arising from globalization, he said.

Socrates said Portugal will prepare a declaration on globalization, which will be submitted to discussion at the Dec. 13 summit in Lisbon. Portugal will also push for the formation of a "group of wise men," who will make proposals for the EU to cope with globalization.

Meanwhile, he said the EU leaders also discussed the issue of stability of the EU financial market.

He said the leaders have confidence in the EU economy, and pledged their full support to the EU finance ministers who are drawing up a plan to increase transparency on risk assessment of the financial market.
At the joint press conference with Socrates, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the Lisbon summit has the importance of "a milestone."

"We turned a page in Lisbon. Now we look into the future confidently," he said.

He said the EU must protect its citizens without being protectionist, and should not close its doors, and also encourage others to open their doors.

On climate change, he said the momentum is with the EU after the Group of Eight summit last June.

He said the UN framework and the setting of "binding, mandatory" targets is the "right way forward." He also said that Europe must " continue to show leadership" on the issue, with the EU executive playing its part.

"I promise to bring forward an ambitious package in January to implement those decisions," he said, in order to keep up "pressure" on progress leading up to a summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009.

Early Friday morning, the EU leaders adopted the new treaty, the so-called Treaty of Lisbon, which will improve EU decision making and streamline EU institutions.

"The treaty is the basis of the renewed Lisbon strategy," said Barroso. "With the agreement, we can now start to build for reforms."

The new treaty will replace the defunct EU constitution, which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in referenda in 2005.

The document will be signed on Dec. 13 in Lisbon by the EU leaders, and will be signed by the member states before it takes effect on Jan. 1, 2009.

Among institutional changes, the new treaty installs a new foreign policy chief for the EU and a long-term president for the European Council to replace the current six-month rotating presidency, but it avoids any mention of what may suggest a constitutional nature, such as EU symbols -- the flag, the anthem and the motto.

It also introduces the double majority voting system in decision-making, reduces the size of the executive European Commission, and gives national parliaments more power.

The deal was possible after last-minute concessions were made to some aggressive demanders, notably Poland and Italy.

Poland threatened to veto the treaty unless the so-called "Ioannina" mechanism, which allows a minority group of states disagreeing with a resolution to freeze it for a considerable period of time, was written into the new treaty.

Under a compromised arrangement, though there will be no Ioannina clause in the treaty, the European Council, composed of 27 EU leaders, will adopt a declaration on the substance of the Ioannina mechanism, making it legally binding. In addition, the declaration will be attached with a protocol, which requires consensus in any change to the Ioannina mechanism.

Another Polish demand, a permanent advocate general on the European Court of Justice, was also satisfied.

"Poland has got everything it asked for," said Polish President Lech Kaczynski after the talks.

Italy had disagreed with the plan to redistribute EU parliamentary seats. According to the new rules, Rome's seats in the European Parliament should be cut from 78 to 72 in 2009, the biggest decline among member states.

The EU leaders finally agreed to add one more seat to Italy without breaching the 750-member cap by excluding the non-voting president of the parliament from the count.

EU informal summit ends with new treaty, strong commitment on globalization challenges

[Shammu]

Academic handbook could form basis for EU civil code
22.10.2007 - 07:07 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Academic researchers are finalising a big European Commission-funded legal handbook containing the core principles of EU member states' private law.

EU officials say the catalogue, to be presented to the commission in December, could in future form the basis for a full-blown European civil code.


More than 150 law researchers from across Europe are drawing up a so-called 'Draft Common Frame of Reference' which will consist of legal articles related to the exchange of goods and services - for example on leasing, damage, the right to withdraw from contracts and unjustified enrichment.

The articles will seek to describe what is the common core of European private law (in this case, mainly contract law), the bulk of which is currently covered by the 27 EU member states' national private law systems.

Private law is deeply rooted in national legal traditions which are often centuries-old, such as the UK's common law or France's Code Civil introduced by Napoleon. Any possible EU interference in the area of private law is therefore seen as highly sensitive.

One of the leading researchers involved in the project, Osnabrück university professor Christian von Bar, told EUobserver that "with the Common Frame of Reference we would have a common basis of private law, with common legal terms."

"Currently, words like 'intention' or 'damage' can have extremely different meanings in different member states' legal systems. At least with the Common Frame of Reference we would have a set of model rules covering the common core of our private law systems," he added.

Commission is cautious
The document will in an initial paperback edition count between 300 and 350 pages, but a second, full version - to be finalized by 2009 – is likely to contain no less than 3,000 pages, including not only law articles but also comments plus extensive footnotes.

Mr Von Bar stresses that at the moment, the draft framework remains a purely academic exercise which has no legal or political status in the EU.

"We as academic researchers are developing the technique - but it fully depends on a political decision of the European Commission, the [EU] Council and the European Parliament if in the end, the Common Frame of Reference will be adopted as an EU instrument", he said.

The commission - which has funded the project to the tune of €4.3 million through its research budget – publicly takes an extremely cautious line on the issue.

It says it sees the Common Frame of Reference merely as a "tool box" for updating existing and preparing new EU private law in the consumer- and business areas, for which it will "select carefully" the "parts of the draft" it needs.

"The scope is not a large scale harmonisation of private law or a European civil code," The EU executive stated in a report in July this year.

The commission's low-key approach to the project reflects member states' deep unease with even a small attempt by Brussels to harmonise their private law systems or - seen as even worse - to create an EU civil code.

MEPs have less taboos
But the European Parliament has less taboos about the similarities between the planned Common Frame of Reference - draft articles of which can already be found online - and a European Civil Code.

A parliament resolution adopted in March 2006 said "Even though the Commission denies that this is its objective, it is clear that many of the researchers and stakeholders working on the project believe that the ultimate long-term outcome will be a European code of obligations or even a full-blown European Civil Code."

"In any event the project is by far the most important initiative under way in the civil law field," it added.

German Christian Democrat MEP Klaus-Heiner Lehne said "The draft Common Frame of Reference indeed comes down to a European Civil Code. But as this is a pure academic piece of work it is up to the responsible political bodies to decide how to further proceed."

Diana Wallis, UK liberal MEP, said "At the moment, this is an exercise by academics. Will it ever form the basis of a Civil Code? I have no crystal ball. Perhaps in very many years. Currently the political climate is not ripe, but perhaps at some point it will be."

"In my own country the word 'code' sounds very foreign," said Ms Wallis who in an earlier speech remarked "Napoleon is immediately seen to be approaching the white cliffs of Dover!"

She added that the current EU treaties as well as the new Reform Treaty offer "no legal basis" for a European civil code.

What kind of EU code?
If ever adopted in the future, an EU civil code could be based on the Common Frame of Reference blueprint. It would harmonise member states' contract law, as well as other legal areas which do not strictly fall under contract law such as tort law.

It is however not expected to include the most sensitive parts of national civil law systems - notably family law and inheritance law.

A European civil code could replace domestic civil law codes or - what is more likely - exist alongside national systems as an "optional" scheme.

Consumers and businesses could in that case choose to be protected by EU civil law when operating in another member state, in order to avoid the bureaucracy and legal uncertainty of foreign contract rules.

"This could take the form of a European 'blue button' for internet purchases," Mr Lehne said. "A consumer buying a product or service on the internet may choose to be protected under EU contract rules by clicking on a blue button, next to buttons for national contract law."

Academic handbook could form basis for EU civil code