“It’s A New Chapter For Europe”: Merkel, Macron Unveil Plan To Reform Europe

Lost among the other overnight news, was the launch of “a new chapter” for the EU as termed by Germany’s troubled chancellor Merkel. After her meeting with French President Macron on Tuesday, Merkel said Germany and France have agreed to cooperate to reform the EU’s asylum system as both “understand the topic of migration is a joint task” and “our goal remains a European answer to the challenge.” What she really meant is that if her government is toppled by the collapse of the CSU-CDU coalition – recall Merkel has a 2 week ultimatum to reach a solution on Germany’s treatment of refugees by July 1 – the rest of Europe gets it too, and the grand experiment is over.

Aside from immigration, the two leaders agreed to an in principle plan to strengthen the Euro area, including setting up a euro-area budget and a crisis backstop under the ESM (European stability mechanism), although they postponed decisions on some elements which could prove consequential. Chief among them: specifics on the size and conditions of the euro-area budget.

Commission lays out vision to complete euro

The EU executive is proposing a two-phase calendar to complete the architecture of the economic and monetary union. (Photo: Hannelore Foerster)

 

The European Commission presented on Wednesday (31 May) its proposal to “move forward” on eurozone integration with a treasury, a finance minister and several instruments to make the financial sector less vulnerable to crises.

The document, which is part of an ongoing reflection about the future of the EU, aims to “fill the gaps” in the single currency and to help the eurozone economies to converge.

“We cannot and should not wait for another crisis,” said commission vice president Valdis Dombrovskis, who admitted that “doubts remain about the full stability and safety of the system”.

US banks bracing for Brexit

According to sources quoted by the Financial Times, three American banks — Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley — are “drawing up plans to move some London-based activities to Ireland to address concerns” the UK would leave the European Union after a referendum on EU membership to be held possibly in 2017.

European Federation Will Form By 2016, Says Commissioner

As sure as the sky is blue, The United States of Europe — “Iron mixed with clay” (Daniel 2:43), is coming soon.

Time is short’—the crises will force the EU to act quickly, says EU commissioner for financial services.

The European Union will have merged into a federal superstate by 2016, European commissioner for financial services, Michel Barnier, said in an interview published by the French newspaper Liberation August 2.

“The time is short: By 2016 the EU will have transformed into a federation of European nations in which their fates are merged without erasing their differences,” he said.

“A federation means economic governance, collective management of our budget guidelines, a banking union, industrial policy, and much stronger budget coordination,” he said.

Barnier explained that by becoming a federation, the EU is traveling in a direction forced upon it by the banking crisis. “Europe has done much in a short time to correct deficiencies accumulated over 10 years,” he said, adding: “Now it is moving toward a European federation, because the crisis has shown that we could not go it alone.”

Barnier said the plan to establish a European banking regulator by January 2012 was a step toward this federal union.

Barnier is right: The crisis is forcing Europe to become a federal union. His timescale is greatly accelerated compared to other EU officials who talk about these changes happening over the next 10 years.

But, as Barnier said, “The time is short.” The crisis will force Europe to change urgently.

Barnier is describing a huge change—a new superpower hitting the world scene very shortly. Watch this closely; it will change the world. A federal United States of Europe will be here in just a few years—if it even takes that long.

Full article: European Federation Will Form By 2016, Says Commissioner (The Trumpet)