The EU leaders have done it -- they've succeeded in adopting a Reform Treaty to replace the failed EU Constitution. Now, the real test comes. After an official signing ceremony in December, all 27 Member States will have to ratify the treaty for it to go into effect by 2009.

We've seen all this before. Back in 2004, EU leaders adopted a Constitution that was then rejected by Member States during the ratification process. Yet, my father, Herb, rightly suspected that that wasn't the last we would see of the Constitution. He was right. Most analysts agree that the Reform Treaty is the Constitution in all but name.

Besides making the EU an official legal entity and creating a longer-term president, it also creates a super foreign minister post, called the "High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy." A Telegraph article on Friday said this new post "seems tailor-made" for Javier Solana, the EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, who has been credited with the policies that have brought security to Europe and maybe soon to the Middle East. The treaty combines Solana's already powerful post with the the EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy -- putting the foreign minister over a huge budget and diplomatic staff. 

The new foreign minister will also be tasked with readying the EU military's capabilities by 2010 to carry out missions, especially for the United Nations. Here's the actual wording from the treaty text:

This 2010 date may be significant because -- if the 70th week of Daniel began Jan. 1, 2007 -- then 2010 would be the middle of the seven-year time frame, when, according to the Bible, the Antichrist will make war against Christ's people. (Read why the 70th week of Daniel may have started Jan. 1 here.) 

In short, the Reform Treaty will give legal status and deeper integration to the European Union, which many prophecy students have long identified as the revived Roman Empire of the last days. It also will give much more power to a foreign minister post which -- in its tasks to bring peace to Europe and the Middle East -- seems to match perfectly with the position of the Antichrist.

It will be interesting to see if the EU can get all 27 Member States to ratify the Constitution -- er, I mean, Reform Treaty -- this time around.

Staying tuned!