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ROKU AppBritain and the EU: Is the Party Over?
Written by Ralph Levy
David Cameron’s veto of EU treaty changes left Britain the odd man out. A look at the history and future of Britain’s relationship with Europe.
It’s never been an easy relationship. Do the Brits want in or out? Does continental Europe want the Brits in? Do they want the same thing? Doubts abound on both sides of the English Channel.
A rocky start
From the start, there was uncertainty. The European Coal and Steel Community, proposed in 1950, excluded the United Kingdom but included France, West Germany and four other Western European nations.
As this community developed into the Common Market, some in Britain cast a longing eye at the trading potential of continental Europe. Britain finally decided to apply for admission in 1963, only to be rebuffed by French President Charles de Gaulle’s famous veto. “Get your own house in order first,” was de Gaulle’s reply to France’s neighbor and erstwhile ally, which was still struggling to recover from the ravages of World War II and its aftermath.
Yet that desire for economic (not political) union persisted, particularly among England’s business circles, and it culminated in the United Kingdom’s entry into the European Economic Community in 1973, this time with the support of West Germany and others, and the acquiescence of France.
Opt-out provisions
In retrospect, however, it’s clear that there were different goals in view: Few in Britain supported the concept of tight economic union, much less full political union. Meanwhile, some on the Continent were beginning to espouse the goal of greater economic union, political alignment and the ultimate goal of a United States of Europe.
This goal seemed to come closer in 1993, when the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union, with the (somewhat ambivalent) support of its then 12 members. Struggles to achieve approval in the member states were eventually overcome, as holdouts ultimately gave reluctant agreement in indecisive referendums. The most significant holdout was the United Kingdom, which didn’t hold a referendum but negotiated an opt-out provision from some of the social legislation of the European Union.
Euro skeptics
By the end of the decade, the prospect of fuller economic unification came one step closer, with the founding of the single currency, the euro, first as a virtual (electronic only) currency in 1999, and later as a currency with banknotes and coins in 2002. Again, the British were undecided and ambivalent, with Tony Blair, prime minister from 1997 to 2007, in favor of the adoption of the euro, and others in Britain firmly opposed. Ultimately, Britain didn’t join.
With the eruption of severe and worsening crises in the eurozone over the last two years, some in Britain are now gleefully declaring, “I told you so!” The single currency has lurched ominously as it struggles to cope with a lack of fiscal discipline in several of its member nations and its inability to adjust national currencies to compensate for variations in growth among member states.
Veto leaves London the odd man out
Where does this leave the United Kingdom and its relations with the rest of the European Union? In short, in a relationship that is cool at best and quite cold at present.
Last week, as Angela Merkel of Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy of France struggled to find a solution to the crisis and to pull EU nations closer together economically, David Cameron of Britain exercised a veto. To the glee of euro skeptics in his Conservative Party and to the frustration and anger of many in continental Europe, Cameron gave thumbs-down to a plan for treaty changes to impose stricter fiscal discipline. When he couldn’t negotiate protections for London’s financial center, Cameron declined to sign off on the entire agreement.
Frustration abounded, and the U.K. found itself in a minority of one, against 26 other EU member nations. “Are the Brits really with us?” some asked. Sarkozy was quick to point out the irony of a member state that isn’t even part of the eurozone exercising a veto over legislation to “fix” the euro. According to some reports, he even went so far as to refuse to shake Mr. Cameron’s hand.
“We are sick of you criticizing us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro and now you want to interfere in our meetings,” Sarkozy was reported to have said. “We would have preferred an accord of the 27 but that was not possible because of the position of our British friends.”
Future shocks
So the strains surface again. What does it all foretell? The answer is provided in Bible prophecy. Ultimately, it’s clear that a new and revitalized system will take hold in Europe, comprising 10 (not 27 or 17) “kings”—leaders of nations or groups of nations (Revelation 17:3, 7, 12). (For background on this, see “Europe’s Economic Crisis: Where Will It Lead?” and “Don’t Count Europe Out Yet.”)
The last book of the Bible describes this system as one to “ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition” (Revelation 17:8). What’s more, it declares that this Europe-based system will take most by surprise: “And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (verse 8).
Current tensions in the European Union have yet to come to a climax. Britain’s ambiguous relationship with continental Europe will almost certainly take it in a very different direction from the Franco-German alliance and other continental nations. When this takes place, it will shock the world!
Yet you don’t have to be shocked. For those who repent of their sins and become part of the Body of true believers, the following message applies: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. … Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. … For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:4, 6, 9).
Watch—be sober—and walk in the light. Don’t be caught by surprise by the events that are yet to take place.
Ralph Levy is a minister of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, who grew up in England and now lives in the United States. Dr. Levy enjoys reading, travel and foreign languages. He has a Ph.D. in biblical studies and has worked in foreign language and religious education for much of his life.
For more biblical background about prophecy and current events, see:
