On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which established the EEC (one of the European Union’s precursors), European leaders will hold a summit to discuss the question of how to keep the European Union together and chart a course for the future.
In the run up to the meeting, the leaders of the lower chambers of parliament of Germany, Italy, France, and Luxembourg have called for a European “Federal Union” in an open letter published in the Italian newspaper La Stampa. In the letter, four representatives of EU governments – Claude Bartolone of the French National Assembly, Laura Boldrini of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Norbert Lammert of the German Bundestag, and Mars Di Bartolomeo of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies – say that closer cooperation is essential for dealing with problems that no one EU state can tackle on its own, such as immigration, terrorism, and climate change.
“Now is the moment to move towards closer political integration — the Federal Union of States with broad powers. We know that the prospect stirs up strong resistance, but the inaction of some cannot be the paralysis of all. Those who believe in European ideals, should be able to give them a new life instead of helplessly observing its slow sunset,” the letter read.
They also warned that the European integration project is currently more at risk than ever before, with high unemployment and immigration problems driving populist and nationalist movements. The EU must also come to grips with the fact that the United Kingdom decided to leave the union.
In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, West Germany and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Rome, which eventually paved the way for the Maastricht Treaty and the European Union in 1991.
In September of 2015, Lammert, Bartolone, Boldrini and di Bartolomeo also signed a declaration calling for deeper and faster European integration, even as greater European integration is being challenged by Eurosceptic parties around the continent.
The EU is actually a Roman Catholic project designed to resurrect the Holy Roman Empire with all its religious as well as political trappings. European leaders, including heads of state as well as prime ministers and others will meet with the pope on March 24, seeking his wisdom before they have their summit in Rome on March 25th. Where is it leading?
“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.” Revelation 13:8.