Where Do the French and Dutch "No" Votes Leave the EU?
A commentary by Melvin Rhodes
Good News writer and regional pastor, Ghana
The recent rejection of the proposed EU constitution
by French and Dutch voters has caused a major stir in Europe, where it
is seen as a serious blow to European unity.
Is there any prophetic significance to this latest development?
Bible prophecy reveals that, at the time of the end, ten kings will
come together and give their power to the "Beast," a supreme
federal leader (Revelation 17:12-13). This Beast "will make war
with the Lamb" (v.14), confirming that this prophecy takes us right
up to Jesus Christ's second coming. This Beast-power is the final
successor to the pagan empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.
The Roman Empire, which collapsed in the West over 1500 years ago,
has seen a number of would-be successors, all of which attempted European
reunification and none of which lasted very long—though the loosely
bound Holy Roman Empire did survive for a thousand years. The European
Union is the latest attempt to unite Europe.
With the EU consisting of 25 members, how ten dominant "kings" would
emerge out of it was anybody's guess. Now, however, we are beginning
to see indications of how this could happen.
On Sunday May 29th French voters rejected the new European constitution
which would have created a more federal EU. Three days later voters in
The Netherlands also said "No." Yet, immediately prior to
the French vote, the German parliament approved the new constitution.
At the time of the French referendum nine countries had approved the
treaty. A day after the Dutch vote, Latvia became the tenth. If twenty
approve, it could still go ahead.
Since Germany still opposes any constitutional re-negotiation, the
most likely outcome will probably be a two-tier Europe. This would mean
that a solid hard core of countries would form a federal European state,
while the others would be a part of the economic union attached to it.
In effect, countries like France (and Britain which also is likely to
reject the constitution) will have abdicated their leadership role in
favor of Germany—which will then be the undisputed leader of the
new Europe.
Germany is the EU's biggest economy. By itself, it is the third
biggest economy in the world, the biggest single trading nation and the
world's second biggest creditor nation. It is also home to the
euro, one of the two major currencies in the world. The EU remains the
world's biggest single trading bloc and biggest single market,
giving Germany, its dominant member, considerable clout.
Looking at the map, what is particularly interesting is that the nations
that are supportive of the new constitution are basically the nations
that formed the Axis alliance with Germany during World War II. Added
to which is Spain, supposedly neutral at the time, though its fascist
government received Nazi military support during the Spanish Civil War
that preceded WWII.
However, it is unlikely that the EU's economic union will
divide. With the exception of the United Kingdom, Germany is the major
trading partner of every other EU nation. The UK does about as much trade
with the US as Germany.
This means that if a coalition of 10 hard core members move ahead to
form what eventually would be the Beast power, the others would be in
no position to oppose it. They would be tied to the Beast as surely as
if they were full members. Only Britain could perhaps avoid this. But
if the UK opted out it would be surrounded by hostile European powers,
an unenviable position to be in.
We are going to see some interesting developments in Europe in the
next two years. The EU will have to resolve the present division and
move on—most probably with a two-tier Europe. New leaders are set
to come to power in the big three nations of Europe: Germany, France
and the United Kingdom.
Germany seems likely to have a Christian Democratic government in a
few months, committed to structural changes in the economy that will
move the country closer to the Anglo-Saxon economic model, thereby further
strengthening the economy. It probably will also have its first woman
Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
At the same time, we can expect American and European interests to
continue to move in different directions. There are a lot of questions
about how we will get from today's Europe to one dominated by "ten
kings"—but the French and Dutch votes have likely moved us
closer to that development.
  For a clear overview of the power and influence of the prophesied end-time "Beast" request
or download our free booklets: The Book of Revelation Unveiled and Are
We Living in the Time of the End?
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