How does the Constitution affect the cooperation with African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries?
The Cotonou agreements, as international agreements signed by representatives of the EU Member States and ACP countries, keeps the same legal status. The EU-ACP cooperation therefore still falls under these agreements. The special status allocated to ACP-countries in the previous Treaty (art. 179 TEC) has not been reintroduced in the Constitutional Treaty. This article aimed at preserving a special status for the cooperation with ACP countries and specifically keeping the European Development Fund (EDF), which incorporates money dedicated to ACPs, out of the general EU aid framework and therefore out of the general EU budget. The deletion of this sentence does not mean that the EDF will be integrated within the overall budget, as other changes in EU primary law would be needed to allow budgetisation (Maastricht Declaration 12). The inclusion of the EDF in the overall budget of the Union is a political change that will not happen unless all Member States agree. Discussions on this possi
