The Renewed Lisbon Strategy: the Agenda and the State of Implementation in the Italian Regions

Con questa pubblicazione le Rappresentanze in Italia della Commissione Europea intendono contribuire ad informare l'opinione pubblica sul processo di rilancio della strategia di Lisbona attualmente in atto a livello comunitario per favorire il conseguimento dell¿obiettivo di trasformare entro il 2010 l¿Europa nell'economia basata sulla conoscenza più competitiva e dinamica del mondo. Questa pubblicazione intende in particolare richiamare per brevi punti le tappe principali del rilancio della strategia di Lisbona nell¿Unione Europea iniziata nel 2005 mostrando come per ogni Stato membro, e quindi anche per l¿Italia, il migliore coordinamento tra le azioni e le politiche attuate dalla Commissione Europea e quelle realizzate dal Governo nazionale sia il punto chiave di questo rilancio.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and statistical support to antifrau

Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA) Application for Source Apportionment and Natural Attenuation Assessment of Chlorinated Benzenes

In light of the complex management of chlorobenzene (CB) contaminated sites, at which a hydraulic barrier (HB) for plumes containment is emplaced, compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) has been applied for source apportionment, for investigating the relation between the upgradient and downgradient of the HB, and to target potential CB biodegradation processes. The isotope signature of all the components potentially involved in the degradation processes has been expressed using the concentration-weighted average 13C of CBs + benzene (13Csum). Upgradient of the HB, the average 13Csum of 25.6‰and 29.4‰were measured for plumes within the eastern and western sectors, respectively. Similar values were observed for the potential sources, with 13Csum values of 26.5‰for contaminated soils and 29.8‰for the processing water pipeline in the eastern and western sectors, respectively, allowing for apportioning of these potential sources to the respective contaminant plumes. For the downgradient of the HB, similar CB concentrations but enriched 13Csum values between 24.5‰and 25.9‰were measured. Moreover, contaminated soils showed a similar 13Csum signature of 24.5‰, thus suggesting that the plumes likely originate from past activities located in the downgradient of the HB. Within the industrial property, significant 13C enrichments were measured for 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCB), 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB), 1,3-DCB, and 1,4-DCBs, thus suggesting an important role for anaerobic biodegradation. Further degradation of monochlorobenzene (MCB) and benzene was also demonstrated. CSIA was confirmed to be an effective approach for site characterization, revealing the proper functioning of the HB and demonstrating the important role of natural attenuation processes in reducing the contamination upgradient of the HB

The mitigation role of collaterals and guarantees under Basel II

Under the Basel II framework for capital adequacy of banks, regulatory financial collateral and guarantees (C&G ) can affect lending policy in both a micro and a macro perspective. This paper aims at assessing these effects throught the modelling of the impact of C&G on credit spreads. In doing this we assume the perspective of a bank adopting a Foundation Internal Rating Based approach to measure credit risk and we apply a comparative-static analysis to a pricing model, based on the intrinsic value pricing approach as in the loan arbitrage-free pricing model (LAFP) suggested by Dermine (1996). Our results show that financial collaterals are more effective than guarantees in reducing credit spreads, this differential impact becoming greater as the borrower’s rating worsen. Moreover, the effects of C&G on credit spreads can be more effective than an improvement of borrower’s rating, this possibly leading to negative outfits on credit industries’ allocative efficiency.JRC.G.1-Scientific Support to Financial Analysi

Deposit Insurance Schemes: target fund and risk-based contributions in line with Basel II regulation

This paper discusses a deposit insurance model recently developed by De Lisa et al. (2010), highlighting its policy implications. Compared to existing ones, the model proposed by De Lisa et al. (2010) presents the important advantage of taking into account Basel 2 banking regulation, thus linking two pillars of financial safety net: banks' capital requirements and deposit insurance. The model, which estimates the potential loss hitting a Deposit Insurance Scheme (DIS) under several economic scenarios, can be used to establish the target size of the fund, which is the amount of money that the DIS should have available in case of need. Moreover the model can be used to estimate the contribution (to this loss) that each bank should pay to the fund according to its degree of riskiness.JRC.DG.G.9-Econometrics and applied statistic

The EU sovereign debt crisis: potential effects on EU banking systems and policy options

This paper aims at investigating some of the critical issues highlighted by the sovereign debt crisis in European Union Member States. The goal is twofold: 1) Quantify, via a development of the SYMBOL model here firstly presented, the impact in terms of higher risk for the EU banking systems of haircuts of sovereign debts of some EU MS, which have been particularly touched by the sovereign crisis; 2) evaluate and compare the policy options which have been adopted to address the issue. In particular the analysis compares the measures within the Basel III Accord, which increases the quality and quantity of capital that banks should set aside to cover from unexpected losses, with the agreement on bank recapitalisation and funding reached by the European Council in October 2011, which responded to the urgent consequences of the sovereign bonds crisis in the EU. The analysis is performed on 65 of the large EU banking groups identified by the European Banking Authority, via a futher development of the SYMBOL model that allows estimating the banks PD without Monte Carlo simulations. Results show that the haircuts on sovereign debts of EU MS in crisis would heavily worsen the stability of their banking systems but could also sometimes affect financial stability of other EU countries. We also show that the creation of a temporary capital buffer in the form of a capital target, necessitated by the exceptional circumstances prevailing in some EU MS, represent a step forward to Basel III rules.JRC.G.1-Scientific Support to Financial Analysi

Design and testing of a GPS/GSM collar prototype to combat cattle rustling

Rustling is an age-old practice that was widespread in Italy until the first half of the 20th century. Today, incidents of cattle rustling are again being reported. However, the problem is not only found in Italy. It is also becoming a plague for ranchers in the US and is still rampant in East Africa. In Italy, the cattle rustling phenomena have usually been limited through the direct control of the herdsmen. Global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) combined technologies are increasingly applied for tracking and monitoring livestock with greater spatial and temporal resolution. However, so far, no case studies of the use of GPS technology to combat cattle rustling have been reported in the literature. The aim of this research was to develop a GPS/GSM (global system for mobile communication) collar, using commercial hardware and implementing a specific software [ARVAshepherd 1.0; ARVAtec Srl, Rescaldina (MI), Italy] to track animals' movements outside their grazing area and to signal when animals are straying outside virtual perimeters. A phase I study was conducted from January to June 2011 to build the GPS/GSM collar and to assess its performances in terms of GPS accuracy and precision, while a phase II study was conducted in July 2011 to test the GPS collar under real-life operating conditions. The static GPS positioning error achieved a circular error probable (50%) and horizontal 95% accuracy of 1.462 m and 4.501 m, respectively. This is comparable with values obtained by other authors in static tests of a commercial GPS collar for grazing studies. In field tests, the system was able to identify the incorrect position of the cattle and the warning messages were sent promptly to the farmer, continuing until the animals had been repositioned inside the fence, thus highlighting the potential of the GPS/GSM collar as an anti-theft system

Permanent safety measures (MISP): efficacy assessment through pumping test analysis, groundwater flow modeling and environmental isotope investigation

Heavy contaminated areas, Permanent Safety Measures, environmental isotopes, pumping tests, modelling

Financial Activities Taxes and Banks' Systemic Risk

The recent financial crisis has highlighted the risks posed by individual banks to the entire banking system. Next to the issue of determining individual contributions to systemic risk, the question of additional taxes on the financial sector has been debated. This paper uses SYMBOL, a micro-simulation model of the banking system, to estimate these individual contributions and compares them to the potential individual tax liabilities of banks under the assumption of a Financial Activity Tax.JRC.G.1-Scientific Support to Financial Analysi

The use of alkaline hydrolysis as a novel strategy for chloroform remediation: feasibility of using urban construction wastes and evaluation of carbon isotopic fractionation

Laboratory and field-scale pilot experiments were performed to evaluate the feasibility of chloroform degradation by alkaline hydrolysis and the potential of δ13C values to assess this induced reaction process at contaminated sites. In batch experiments, alkaline conditions were induced by adding crushed concrete (pH 12.33 ± 0.07), a filtered concrete solution (pH 12.27 ± 0.04), a filtered cement solution (pH 12.66 ± 0.02) and a pH 12 buffer solution (pH 11.92 ± 0.11). The resulting chloroform degradation after 28 days was 94, 96, 99, and 72%, respectively. The experimental data were described using a pseudo-first-order kinetic model, resulting in pseudo-first-order rate constant values of 0.10, 0.12, 0.20, and 0.05 d−1, respectively. Furthermore, the significant chloroform carbon isotopic fractionation associated with alkaline hydrolysis of chloroform (−53 ± 3¿) and its independence from pH in the admittedly limited tested pH range imply a great potential for the use of δ13C values for in situ monitoring of the efficacy of remediation approaches based on alkaline hydrolysis. The carbon isotopic fractionation obtained at the lab scale allowed the calculation of the percentage of chloroform degradation in field-scale pilot experiments where alkaline conditions were induced in two recharge water interception trenches filled with concrete-based construction wastes. A maximum of approximately 30−40% of chloroform degradation was achieved during the two studied recharge periods. Although further research is required, the treatment of chloroform in groundwater through the use of concrete-based construction wastes is proposed. This strategy would also imply the recycling of construction and demolition wastes for use in value-added applications to increase economic and environmental benefits

Selecting oxidation process for treating water contaminated with a mixture of chlorinated VOCs

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds are some of the most prevalent contaminants in the environment. In situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) is a frequently used approach for the remediation of groundwater contaminated with these compounds (Huling @ Pivetz, 2006). Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA) can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of ISCO approaches since it is useful to discern contaminant degradation from non-degradative processes such as dilution or mixing