December 25, 2005: How should the European Union resolve the current impasse resulting from the failed ratification of the EU constitution? That's the question being asked since June 2005 after French and Dutch voters rejected the proposed constitution for Europe.

In a 92 page position paper published at the end of November, Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt outlined his vision for Europe's future. According to Verhofstadt, the EU should be transformed into a "United States of Europe" with its own military command structure, diplomatic corps and justice system. A uniform tax levied throughout the EU would provide secure financing for this new federal Europe.

Verhofstadt is generally considered to be a close ally of France and Germany and is known for his support for closer political ties within Europe. In an interview with the Belgian daily newspaper "Le Soir", Verhofstadt suggested that a federal Europe could be achieved with only a few EU countries. "Participation in this political core of a European federal union having these common instruments would be voluntary. Each country could decide whether it will belong to this federation or to the greater organization of European states surrounding this core" ("Die Presse", December 2, 2005).

Verhofstadt's proposal is actually nothing new. Germany's former foreign minister Joschka Fischer outlined a in a speech given in Berlin in May 2000. A "core Europe" is obviously an alternative if a European constitutional super state is unable to be achieved.

Germany’s new chancellor Angela Merkel has her own ideas about Europe's future. She has scheduled a cabinet meeting for January 9, 2006 to discuss ways of overcoming the current impasse over Europe's constitutional future. Cabinet ministers will discuss how to salvage at least parts – if not all – of the constitutional treaty rejected by France and the Netherlands. Germany’s next turn for the rotating six-month EU Presidency comes in January 2007, and Merkel hopes to resolve the issue during the German term.

"We have to find a way to shape the Europe of the 25 in such a way to keep it functioning," Merkel said. Political analysts consider her initiative to be a rejection of Verhofstadt's – and Joschka Fischer's – proposal.

A close-knit Europe of 25 or more members seems highly unlikely in view of the wrangling that has taken place within the EU in the last 50 years. The "core Europe" scenario is the more likely one, a vision of a "Democratic Dictatorship" that would fulfill Bible prophecy.