Tag Archives: European Union

EUROPEAN UNION AGREES ON NEW BANKING SUPERVISION DEAL AHEAD OF THE EU SUMMIT

The European Union has agreed the terms of a deal which will see centralized supervision of the eurozone banks.

The deal is expected to come into effect in March 2014, and will see the European Central Bank (ECB) acting as supervisor-in-chief of the eurozone banks. The deal will affect financial institutions with assets greater than 30bn euros ($39bn; £24bn) or with 20% of national GDP.

Around 80% of Europe’s banking transactions are conducted through the City of London, though UK banks will not be included in the deal. UK Chancellor George Osborne has stressed that he has worked hard to ensure the deal will protect the City.

The deal is a crucial step towards a full banking union. This is believed by many to be necessary and inevitable, in order to solve the eurozone crisis.

The deal has been reached ahead of the next EU summit, which is about to begin.

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ARE THERE MOVES TO GIVE THE UNITED NATIONS CONTROL OVER THE INTERNET?

Next month, nations will gather in Dubai to discuss the future of the internet. The mission of the conference is to secure “the free flow of information around the world, promoting affordable and equitable access for all”.

In the build up to the conference, there has been growing debate amongst some nations that the United Nations should take over control of the internet. A leaked document from Russian officials says:

“Member states shall have equal rights to manage the internet, including in regard to the allotment, assignment and reclamation of internet numbering, naming, addressing and identification resources and to support for the operation and development of basic internet infrastructure,”

Today the European Union have voted on whether they believe the UN should control the internet. The EU parliament have rejected this saying that UN control would “negatively impact the internet, it’s architecture, operations, content and security, business relations, internet governance and the free flow of information online”.

Currently different bodies around the world control the internet and it’s structure. Most of these bodies, like ICANN, ( Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) are found just south of Santa Monica CA in Marina Del Rey (where the Dalai Lama’s second in command lives). They act independently of government control. Those opposed to handing control of the internet over to the UN argue that many of the member states of the UN do not seek to promote the free, “equitable access of all” that the internet allows.

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The European Union Have Been Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the European Union, the move has left many baffled. The committee who decides on the winners of the Nobel Prize said it was recognising the work the EU has done to transform Europe from a continent of war, to one of peace.

However, many have been quick to point out the peace of Europe, after the Second World War, was not won by the EU; but by the work of Britain, America and even Russia- and later by NATO – with America picking up much of the bill. Within Germany itself the nation transformed itself out of the devastation left by Hitler to reject fascism and build a peaceful society and a robust economy.

The awarding of the prize to the EU has caused further anger because of the deep divisions that exist across the continent at this time. As violent riots erupt across European cities, and many see the actions of the EU to be robbing nation states of their democratic rights, questions have been asked as to why the EU is worthy of this accolade.

The award was all the more surprising given the Nobel Prize committee are based in Norway, one of the few European countries not to be a member of the EU. However, it has now emerged the most eurosceptic member of the committee, Aagot Valle, was ill this week, and therefore not part of the decision. Had Valle been present he would have almost certainly vetoed the decision. The committee now has questions to answer as to it’s political ethics in awarding the prize to the EU.

“The award of the prize will stir a massive controversy in Norway,” Kristian Berg Harpviken, head of the Oslo-based Peace Research Institute, told Reuters on Friday. “Many politicians here would see this as undue meddling in the internal affairs of Norway by the Nobel Committee.”

This is not the first time the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded controversially. In 2009 Barak Obama was given the prize, and in 1994 Yasser Arafat.

Europe’s a soft touch for the world’s most dangerous terrorist – Telegraph

Europe’s a soft touch for the world’s most dangerous terrorist – Telegraph.

The world’s most dangerous man is an Iranian, and the head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. He is Qassem Suleimani. He works closely with Hizbollah and has mastermind mass murder in dozens of countries.

If Iran are allowed to build a nuclear device, it is one Suleimani and his terrorist groups will have access to.

However, in Europe Hizbollah has charitable status. The European Union does not recognise Hizbollah as a terrorist organisation. Therefore, Hizbollah are able raise millions in Europe and recruit in European universities. When confronted with this, EU officials asked for the “tangible evidence” for Hizbollah’s terrorist activities.

The head of Hizbollah has admitted that if they were placed on the European terrorist list it would “destroy Hizbollah”, by drying up their finances.

History of Luxembourg

Luxembourg began as a hill top fortress in the AD600’s. As you can imagine it has always been a hugely strategic location, between France and Germany. Throughout European history the different countries have spent a lot of time fighting each other (from 1500 until 1800 the big European nations were at war over 50% of the time) and Luxembourg was often in the centre of all this. So Luxembourg became one of the most heavily fortified and blood stained lands in Europe.

Luxembourg has changed hands many times over the years; it has been under the rule of France, Germany, Austria, Spain and Prussia. When the Austrian’s had it, they gave it as a gift to the King of the Netherlands as well as making it a Royal Duchy. This enabled Luxembourg to build it’s own political institutions, so in 1867 it was recognised as a politically independent state. Due to it’s strategic importance it was officially declared to be neutral – so as not to cause problems between France and Germany (they have not always been as friendly as the now appear!) This neutrality was broken when Germany invaded in the first world war, and again in the second WW. Their neutrality meant Luxembourg had no army, so the German’s walked straight into Luxembourg and took it over. The bloody and infamous Battle of the Bulge was fought on Luxembourg soil. After the second world war Luxembourg relinquished neutrality and joined NATO. It was also one of the founding states of the EU.

Today it is a centre of business and banking (Paypal is one of the business’s to be registered there). It has the greatest concentration of banks within the EU, as well as many holding companies – it is a tax haven.

It is also home to some of the following EU institutions:

The Commission of the European Community, including the Statistical Office (EUROSTAT) and the Publications Office,

The Court of Justice of the European Communities

The general Secretariat of the European Parliament,

The European Investment Bank,

The European Court of Auditors.

The Official Publications Office

The Nuclear Safety Administration,

The Directorate-General of ‘Credits and Investments’

 

European Summit December 8th

December 8th will see the European Union Summit meet again in Brussels. Top of the agenda will be the Euro Crisis. This will be a crucial meeting, and the heads of state have to come up with a plan to quickly forge a way through the economic woes of Europe.

In their last summit they came up with the plan for a €1 trillion bailout fund, since then they have been unable to secure investment to the fund. Furthermore, the crisis has deepened with the other measures making little impact, apart from buying a little time. Therefore, this month’s summit is all the more important. Top of the agenda will be the formation of some sort of fiscal union, but the Germans are still refusing to allow the creation of Eurobonds or the ECB to become lender of last resort. However, they are insisting on “total oversight” of any new fiscal union. For example, already the Irish Prime Minister this week discovered the German Bundstag have obtained copies of the Irish budget and are closely studying it, even before the Irish legislators have seen it. What the German’s are asking for in return for the fiscal union, is unprecedented power over the Eurozone… do you think Greeks and Italians etc will happily sit back and allow Berlin to control their public finances?

Obama is pressing Cameron to bash German and French heads together to come up with the goods, and the Bank of England’s governor has said failure to do so would result in a worse financial crash than the 1930’s. As the Telegraph says, “The 1930’s saw mass unemployment and financial calamity, with stock markets losing 90 per cent of their value. More ominously still, 1930-39 was the decade when mainstream politicians lost control of events, when the Nazi’s rose to power and the far Right took charge in Europe. By the end of the decade the world was at war, and the Holocaust – the greatest crime in human history – was about to begin in earnest.” In the natural, the financial chaos of the 1930s helped Hitler win power in Germany, as he promised them prosperity and strength. The failure of the Euro will have far wider implications on the world than we could ever think or imagine.

Europe needs the mantle on Prophet TV at this time. In the past, low support has hampered the missions Prophet TV has carried out into Europe, so please support the work of God in Europe at this crucial time.

 

EU Threatens To Sue The UK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=141aL2yfm-s

November 2011

The European Union has threatened to sue the UK if the British government do not  relax their benefit rules. Currently EU nationals must pass a “right to reside” test in order to claim the generous welfare benefits available. The EU argues that the UK criteria is too tough and ought to come in line with the more generous EU rules.

For many years now, there has been an open border system in operation between the member states of the European Union, and this has made travel between the nations readily accessible. As the EU has expanded in recent years, to allow less affluent nations to enter, nations like the UK have been anxious to stem the tide of EU wide immigration.

When Poland joined the EU in 2004, over 600,000 Polish economic migrants came to the UK. This massive wave of immigration was not supported in improvements to health care provision and school places. As a consequence some areas are struggling to cope with the massive influx of people seeking to access services.

As a consequence, the UK government has sought to limit EU immigration, especially since other eastern European nations have become members. If the EU is successful in changing the UK rules, it will cost the UK government an extra £2.5 billion, at a time when the government is seeking to drastically reduce the nations welfare bill.

The British government are incensed by this interference from Brussels, with the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, saying “These new proposals pose a fundamental challenge to the UK’s social contract. They could mean the British taxpayer paying out over £2 billion extra a year in benefits to people who have no connection to our country and who have never paid-in a penny in tax.

“This threatens to break the vital link which should exist between taxpayers and their own government.” He added: “I sense this is part of a wider movement, coming in the same week as the proposals for a financial transactions tax across Europe, which threatens to punish UK banks by decreasing their competitiveness abroad.”

Brussels have given the UK two months to comply, or the nation will be taken to the European Court, although Britain has been supported by France and Germany in opposing this move.