A reader sent me a link to the following:

The EU is throwing its weight around the business world
February 8, 2024
The European Union is making life a lot more challenging for businesses across the globe.
The 27-nation bloc has aggressively adopted new laws meant to police personal data, social media content, and the dominance of Big Tech. It has sued to block mergers. And it has readied the world’s first comprehensive legislation to police artificial intelligence. …
Big companies in the US and across the globe now face a critical decision: Do they adjust the way they make products and provide services to the EU’s more aggressive laws, or bet that more lenient regulations will take hold in other countries where they operate?
‘The Brussels effect’
Some giant companies that operate globally aren’t willing to take the chance of tiptoeing around the EU, which remains the world’s third-largest economy and is home to roughly 450 million people.
“We’ve seen businesses say, ‘I’m going to build my products, my widgets, my service, to align with the most restrictive guidelines and not have different jurisdictional approaches,'” Jordan Fischer, a lecturer on cross-border information governance at the University of California Berkeley and partner at Constangy.
This pressure to adopt the EU’s version of business compliance even outside its jurisdiction is growing, though isn’t new. It’s known as “the Brussels effect,” a term coined in 2012 by Columbia Law School professor Anu Bradfordto to describe how the EU’s aggressive legislation exerts “unprecedented and deeply underestimated global power.”

Yes, the Europeans want the world to live under their standards. Originally, it was mainly manufacturing standards, then digital ones, as well as informational ones.

I have long warned that the Europeans will insist on setting a lot of international standards which they already have and this will be a negative for the USA as it is less the nation that leads, but is now becoming more one that follows.

Notice something I added to my Europa article back in 2007 and 2008:

It was reported that it is the EU’s intent to make its standards the standards that the rest of the world should follow:
EU wants rest of world to adopt its rules
Financial Times – Feb 18, 2007
Brussels wants the rest of the world to adopt the European Union’s regulations, the European Commission will say this week . A Commission policy paper that examines the future of the Union’s single market says European single market rules have inspired global standard-setting in areas such as product safety, the environment, securities and corporate governance.“Increasingly the world is looking to Europe and adopts the standards that are set here,” the paper, seen by the Financial Times, says.
The paper calls on the EU to encourage other jurisdictions to follow suit – for example by “promoting European standards internationally through international organisation and bilateral agreements.”
This strategy, it claims, will help European businesses beat their rivals abroad since it “works to the advantage of those already geared up to meet these standards”.
The EU’s drive to establish itself as the pacesetter for worldwide business regulation could well lead the bloc into conflict with the US and other trading partners…
Some critics of the European approach argue that the Union’s stance on issues such as GM foods may also reflect a desire to protect the region’s commercial interests.
However, as the Commission paper points out, the sheer size and wealth of the Union’s single market mean that few corporations can afford to ignore it. By harmonising the rules for a market boasting 500m consumers, the Union has set standards “which partners then have to meet if they are to benefit from the single market”, it says.
“[The single market] gives the EU the potential to shape global norms and to ensure that fair rules are applied to worldwide trade and investment. The single market of the future should be the launch pad of an ambitious global agenda.” The Commission paper forms part of an ambitious review of the Union’s single market – widely seen as one of the proudest achievement of European integration. Thanks to product harmonisation, common business rules and the erosion of national trade barriers, the single market means that goods, services, capital and people can move freely among the EU’s 27 member states.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/af609b2c-bf72-11db-9ac2-000b5df10621.html
The above standards and developments will help the stage for the EU to fulfill many prophecies. Notice the following that this type of system may help fulfill:
“Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4)
17 … that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name (Revelation 13:17).
3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury (Revelation 18:3)…
Many of the “standards” of the European Union will be adopted by nearly all of the countries of the world.
However, over time, it will become increasingly clear that the British will be in more agreement with the Canadians and Americans and that the European Union in more agreement with the Mexicans than the EU will have with the English-speaking nations.
Trade wars and/or serious trade disputes will most likely arise.

Having the USA accept more European standards has also increased the world’s acceptance of European standards.

Back in 2008, I posted the following:

In the spirit of accommodation and personal interest, many of the “standards” of the European Union will be adopted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, as well as by nearly all of the countries of the world. (Thiel B. A Combined EU & North American Trade Block Coming? COGwriter.com, March 3, 2008)

The Bible tells of a vast economic power that will rise up in Europe and cause many to prosper (Revelation 18)–the USA itself will be conquered by the Europeans per Daniel 11:39.

Many in Europe in general are working towards the goals of European dominance and and strong military, despite biblical warnings of being part of its coming system (e.g. Revelation 18:4).

Europe has also said that it wants to set the standards for as well as regulate, digital currencies. Related to that, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

9:03
EU to be ‘Sheriff’ of BitCoin & Digital Currencies
Will Bitcoin remain unregulated? The European Union does not think it should be and it released a paper titled “Proposal for EU Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets.” Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, earlier endorsed EU regulation of crypto and digital currencies. A Belgian declared that the EU was the “new Sheriff in town” to deal with the “wild west” of Bitcoin, blockchain, and other cryptocurrencies. The European Union now also has the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in operation, mainly to deal with financial matters? Will the Europeans end up controlling buying and selling associated with 666 in Revelation 13:16-18? Is Europe taking preliminary steps to do so now? Dr. Thiel address these issues.

Here is a link to our video: EU to be ‘Sheriff’ of BitCoin & Digital Currencies.

Bible prophecy warns about a power that that will have a tremendous amount of control, including economic:

15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:15-18)

In that light, consider that the European Union’ Digital Services Act has been in place since August 2023. Here is one report about it:

Making sure digital rules protect and benefit all Europeans
September 4, 2023
Harmonised EU rules are important to businesses and consumers alike. That is why Europe needs to focus on the effective implementation and enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which started to apply to very large companies on 28 August. The EU should also make sure that new legislative proposals do not contradict the landmark DSA.
Europeans need to see the tangible results and benefits of these new digital content rules. This means that lawmakers should take enough time to see what works, and what doesn’t, within this new framework before adding new layers of legislation.
The European Commission has proposed an update of the EU product liability regime in order to better protect consumers in the digital era. https://www.project-disco.org/european-union/making-sure-digital-rules-protect-and-benefit-all-europeans/

Harmonized rules from the EU can point to totalitarianism. The Digital Services Act (DSA) is another step towards this and 666 controls. I do not see that the DSA really protects consumers as much as it forces controls against internet content that the EU does not wish to allow.

Europe wants to set the standards for the world and expects the world to follow them.

And most will, for a time.

Related Items:

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is are links to related videos: European history and the Bible, Europe In Prophecy, The End of European Babylon, and Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European? Here is a link to a related sermon in the Spanish language: El Fin de la Babilonia Europea.

USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. Two related sermon are available: Identifying the USA and its Destruction in Prophecy and Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?

Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.

Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here are links to three related videos: The King of the North is Alive: What to Look Out For, The Future King of the North, and Rise of the Prophesied King of the North.

Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about the peoples of Africa, Asia, South America, and the islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon; When Will the End of the Age Come?; Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.