European balance of power Austria which continued to rule as Holy Roman Emperor. Hapsburg Austria did directly control some states outside of the Holy Roman Empire. It was France who took the status of dominant continental power from the Habsburgs thanks to the Treaty of Westphalia and the Treaty of the Pyrenees. In the 16th and 17th centuries, English foreign policy strove to prevent a creation of a single universal monarchy in Europe, which many believed France or Spain might attempt to create. To maintain the balance of power, the English made alliances with other states—including Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, and the Netherlands—to counter
Continental union between the member states which form the Schengen Area. The Union of South American Nations (commonly referred to by its Spanish acronym UNASUR) 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. The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on May 23, 2008, at the Third