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A continental union is a regional organization which facilitates pan-continental integration. Continental unions vary from collaborative intergovernmental organizations, to supranational politico-economic unions. Continental unions are a relatively new type of political entity in the history of human government. Throughout most of human history, political organization has been at the local level (i.e. tribal, city state) and in more recent centuries, the sub-regional ("regional")/sub-continental level (i.e. river system/basin empires, the modern "nation-state"); however, starting with the advent of better transportation, weapons and communication there was for the first time the ability for a union of member states to organize at the continental level. After the devastation of the first and second world wars in the middle of the 1900s, Europe began to slowly integrate with the founding of the "European Community", which became a political union covering much of the European continent (28 member states as of 2016).
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Existing continental unions
There are 3 current continental unions, each at different stages of integration. The EU is the only supranational politico-economic union and not just an international organization.
African Union
The African Union (AU) at a size of 29,757,900 square kilometres (11,489,589 sq mi) and a population of 1 Billion is by far the largest of the existing continental unions in terms of both land mass and population. It includes all African countries.
The African Union was formed as a successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During the February 2009 Union meeting headed by former Libyan leader Gaddafi, it was resolved that the African Union Commission would become the African Union Authority.
The African Union is made up of both political and administrative bodies. The highest decision-making organ of the African Union is the Assembly, made up of all the heads of state or government of member states of the AU. As of 2013 the Assembly is chaired by Hailemariam Desalegn. The AU also has a representative body, the Pan-African Parliament, which consists of 265 members elected by the national parliaments of the AU member states. The current president of the Pan African Parliament is Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi. Other political institutions of the AU include the Executive Council, made up of foreign ministers, which prepares decisions for the Assembly; the Permanent Representatives Committee, made up of the ambassadors to Addis Ababa of AU member states; and the Economic, Social, and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), a civil society consultative body.
European Union
The European Union has the largest economy (GDP) of the existing continental unions, and serves as the model which the African Union and the Union of South American Nations seek to follow.
The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 member states in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community. A European Parliament has been created, directly elected by citizens of the EU. With almost 500 million citizens, the EU combined generates an estimated 30% share (US$18.4 trillion in 2008) of the nominal gross world product.
The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws which apply in all member states, ensuring the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital. It maintains common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Nineteen member states have adopted a common currency, the euro, constituting the Eurozone. The EU has developed a limited role in foreign policy, having representation at the WTO, G8, G20 and at the UN. It enacts legislation in justice and home affairs, including the abolition of passport controls by an agreement between the member states which form the Schengen Area.
Union of South American Nations
The Union of South American Nations (USAN) is an intergovernmental union integrating two existing customs unions: Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations, as part of a continuing process of South American integration. It is modeled on the European Union, and includes all of continental South America, except for French Guiana (which is an overseas department of France, and therefore part of the European Union). Panama and Mexico hold observer status.
Unasur Constitutive Treaty was signed on May 23, 2008, at the Third Summit of Heads of State, held in Brasília, Brazil. According to it, the Secretariat headquarters will be located in Quito, Ecuador. The South American Parliament will be located in Cochabamba, Bolivia, while the headquarters of the Bank of the South (Portuguese: Banco do Sul, Spanish: Banco del Sur, Dutch: Bank van het Zuiden) are to be located in Caracas, Venezuela. The South American Defence Council was formed on July 20, 2008, and had its first meeting on March 10, 2009. On May 4, 2010, the Heads of State of the Member States unanimously elected former Argentine President Néstor Kirchner as the first Secretary General of UNASUR.
Eurasian Economic Union
The Eurasian Economic Union was founded in January, 2015, consisting of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, all of them being previous members of the Soviet Union.
In Canadian usage
In Canadian history and political science, the term "Continental Union" refers to the idea of creating a union between Canada and the United States, either by forming a new, super-national body in which both countries would become equal members, or by the United States annexing Canada. The ideology which favours Canadian integration with the United States, economically or politically, is known as "continentalism", the more radical version which favours Canada becoming part of the United States is called "annexationism". Continentalism has historically been one of three theories of Canadian nationality that predominated in English Canadian thought, the others being pro-British "Imperialism", and Canadian nationalism.