Monitor The Strategic Trends

Introduction:

The European Union has steadily moved forward in its attempt to unite Europe politically and economically. It has succeeded in creating a European parliament, a court and, in the near future, a common currency.
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NEW! Soccer and the G-8's Greek Quandary May 22, 2012

Croatia Votes To Join Troubled European Union January 24, 2012

The G-20 Summit Ends In An Ermph November 08, 2011

Germany, France Push For Euro Zone Government August 16, 2011

Hitler's Anti-Semitism Still Kicking in Europe June 07, 2011

The 2nd Annual KI Conference: Strategic Perspectives II by Chuck Missler

European Union Update: Poland's Balancing Act by Chuck Missler

The New Challenges: Europa Rising: Part IV by Chuck Missler

The 'New Europe' Arises Europa Rising: Part III by Chuck Missler

Profiles in Prophecy Series: Europa Rising: Part II by Chuck Missler

Documents

Draft of European Union Constitution - The Constitution, and law adopted by the Union's Institutions in exercising competences conferred on it, shall have primacy over the law of the Member States.

Maastricht Treaty -

Related Sites

Council of the European Union -

http://www.european-voice.com/ -

European Union News - Yahoo Full Coverage

Euro and the European Monetary Union - Yahoo Full Coverage

European Union Center of California -

News Sources

NEW! French Economists Unhappy About Hollande - The following was signed by 21 French economists ahead of last Sunday's presidential elections, in which Francois Gerard Georges Hollande beat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. The authors attest that they belong to no political party, and the views expressed here are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of their institutions. "Francois Hollande and his Socialist friends are a particularly mendacious and destructive sort of demagogue: They are purporting to help us by increasing our minimum wages rather than liberating our energies; they will punish the rich rather than encourage all of us to engage in productive efforts; they say they will spend more to stimulate 'growth' - effectively, to buy more consumers - instead of letting us choose the best uses for our own resources. Socialism has never succeeded in its extreme form, communism. As the past several years in Europe have shown, it does not work in its milder form of social democracy either. If European history teaches us anything, it is that prosperity is closely correlated to economic freedom..." [To read the rest, see Title link.]

Former East German Pastor Is Germany's New President - Joachim Gauck, the former East German pastor, dissident and head of the commission that opened the files of the East German secret police after the fall of the Berlin Wall has become the new president of the Federal Republic of Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel was described as finding Mr. Gauck too "unpolitical" for the job (read that as too forthright and unbending). Mr. Gauck's message is clear. He insists that freedom is the most important element in democracy because "above all, freedom bestows culture, substance and content on our society." We'll see where Germany's new President takes his leadership of the strongest country in Europe.

Greek Aid Approved, Spanish Must Cut Deficit - Eurozone finance ministers gave their final approval to a second bailout for Greece on Monday and turned their fire on Spain, demanding it aim for a tougher deficit target this year in order to get back on target in 2013. Greece, the source of the currency bloc's debt crisis, swapped its privately held bonds at the weekend for new, longer maturity paper with less than half the nominal value, a move that cut its debts by more than 100 billion euros. The exchange paved the way for eurozone ministers to give the final political go-ahead to a 130 billion euro package that aims to finance Athens until 2014.

Subzero Weather Kills 89 In Eastern Europe - Record-low temperatures in parts of Eastern Europe pushed the death toll from Arctic conditions to at least 89 people on Wednesday. In Ukraine, 43 people have died in the past five days. Overnight temperatures sank as low as -27F and hundreds of heated tents have been put up to shelter the homeless. European weather alert network Meteoalarm warned of "extremely dangerous" conditions in several parts of eastern Europe, including Serbia, where a fourth person was found dead overnight in the southwestern Suvobor mountains. Thermometers in parts of Bulgaria plunged to record lows freezing ATM cash machines in Sofia, the daily newspaper Trud reported. Eight people in Bulgaria and 14 in neighboring Romania have now died in the cold snap. Meanwhile in Slovenia, winds of up to 180 kph (112 mph) blew off roofs and prompted authorities to close some schools, authorities said.

Future Of Euro Focus Of Summit This Week - With the fate of the 17-nation single currency at stake at a summit this week, 20 years almost to the day since the Maastricht summit at which European leaders agreed to merge their monies, the same battles are still being fought out. The outcome of Friday's 27-nation European Union summit may determine the course of the world's largest trading bloc. One road leads to a core group of euro zone states forging ahead with closer integration; another to a continuation of the current, multispeed Europe limping along at the pace of the slowest in the convoy; and a third toward a potential breakup of the currency and disintegration of the Union.