Voice of America News reports: “The European Union begins 2010 profoundly transformed. A landmark agreement called the Lisbon Treaty is in force, aimed to increase EU clout on the world stage and streamline its decision-making. The first EU permanent president starts work in January, but many Europeans are apathetic about the institution that represents them.

It is holiday season in Brussels. Belgians and tourists stroll through Christmas markets that sell hot, spiced wine and Belgium’s famous waffles. They pause before an enormous Christmas tree in the Grand Place, the central square of Brussels that is surrounded by elaborately decorated old ‘guildhalls.’

These old European rituals are taking place at a time of profound change in Europe. For the first time, Europeans have a permanent president of the European Union, former Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who took office on January 1. They have a new EU foreign policy chief and new EU commissioners, and after years of setbacks European governments finally ratified a pact called the Lisbon Treaty to bind the bloc together.

Nowhere are the changes felt more keenly than in Brussels, the administrative center of the 27-member bloc. Angelo Callant, a Flemish speaking Belgian, says he supports the Lisbon Treaty and he is proud that a Belgian is the EU first president.

‘I am for a stronger Europe, so it is a good evolution now … Europe has an important job in some issues. We need a stronger Europe for the economy and other things,’ Callant said.

French tourist Jacques Tacquoi is also pro-European Union. As a businessman, Tacquoi says, having a European Union and the euro currency makes a difference. He says he feels more European than French…” (The new look is Herman Van Rompuy, the first permanent president of the European Union – which they classify as the United States of Europe. It’s the beginning of the New World Order, the final sign pointing to Christ’s return – I Thessalonians 2:3-8. Soon the leader of the One World Government will ascend to power, as he becomes the Dictator of the New World Order who is undoubtedly alive and waiting in the wings. Get my new video for an in-depth study.)