Just as there are many issues which can potentially benefit from a regional approach, there is also a spectrum of possible approaches to regional working.

These range from ‘soft’ integration based on consensus in a framework of intergovernmental arrangements; through to ‘hard’ integration where member states give up a certain amount of national sovereignty to supranational institutions. Currently there are African examples of the various depths of integration, ranging from coordination, through cooperation and harmonisation, to full integration. The African Peer Review Mechanism, a voluntary programme among AU member states to increase accountability, is an example of soft integration based on countries opting into a peer review system. The RECs’ aspirations of establishing common markets, and the ultimate aim of the African Economic Community to achieve economic and monetary union across the continent, demonstrate the goal of African nations to ultimately progress towards supra-nationalism. The pace at which this progression takes place will depend on the perceived benefits to the countries concerned of giving up control over some aspects of national policy. Some sectors, such as peace and security, are perceived as being more important to national sovereignty and therefore the benefits need to be clear and significant in order to justify the cost of ceding control in these areas.

However, it is also possible for regional objectives in more contentious areas to be achieved through functional integration in less sensitive areas. The founders of the European Union aimed to make war between member states ‘not only inconceivable but impossible’; but this was achieved primarily through technical integration in specific fields (initially coal and steel). Equally, purely functional integration can lead to calls for a more holistic approach in the new relationships between member states. The Social Chapter of the Treaty on European Union reflects a vision of social cohesion across the region, and acknowledges the need for member states to work together to address the social implications of regional economic integration.

The principle of subsidiarity dictates that policy issues should be dealt with at the most local, or lowest possible level, so that regional institutions should only have competence in matters which cannot be more effectively handled nationally. The application of this principle should ensure that regional approaches are genuinely adding value, and not duplicating or countering national efforts.