Banking union in historical perspective: the initiative of the European Commission in the 1960s-1970s

This article shows that planning for the organization of EU banking regulation and supervision did not just appear on the agenda in recent years with discussions over the creation of the eurozone banking union. It unveils a hitherto neglected initiative of the European Commission in the 1960s and early 1970s. Drawing on extensive archival work, this article explains that this initiative, however, rested on a number of different assumptions, and emerged in a much different context. It first explains that the Commission's initial project was not crisis-driven; that it articulated the link between monetary integration and banking regulation; and finally that it did not set out to move the supervisory framework to the supranational level, unlike present-day developments

International money markets: eurocurrencies

Eurocurrencies are international markets for short-term wholesale bank deposits and loans. They emerged in Western Europe in the late 1950s and rapidly reached a global scale. A Eurocurrency is a form of bank money: an unsecured short-term bank debt denominated in a currency (for instance, US dollars) but issued by banks operating offshore, in a geographical location or a legal space situated outside of the jurisdiction of the national authorities presiding over that currency (for instance, the Federal Reserve). In Eurocurrency markets, banks intermediate mainly between foreign residents. They borrow funds by "accepting" foreign currency deposits and lend foreign currency-denominated funds by "placing" deposits with other banks, by granting short-term loans or investing in other liquid assets. Historically, Eurodollars accounted for the largest share of Eurocurrencies, although other international currencies (Deutsche Marks, Japanese yens, and especially Euros since 1999) played an important role. Eurocurrency markets were a manifestation of financial integration and interdependence in a globalizing economy and performed critical functions in the distribution and creation of international liquidity. At the same time, their fast growth was a recurrent source of concerns for central bankers and policymakers due to their implications for macroeconomic policies and financial stability. This chapter analyzes different aspects of the historical development of Eurocurrency markets and their role in the international monetary and financial system. The first part discusses theoretical interpretations, presents estimates of markets' size, describes their structure, and explains the determinants of their growth. The second part analyzes the spread between Eurodollar rates and other US money market rates, the role of arbitrage, the evolution of risk factors, and the causes of historical episodes of stress and contagion in the interbank market. The last part discusses political economy issues, such as the role of governments and market forces in the emergence of Eurodollars in the 1950s and the failed attempts to impose multilateral controls on Eurocurrency markets in the 1970s

Contamination of Japanese foodstuffs of terrestrial origin after the Fukushima nuclear accident and related dose assessments Part 1: foodstuff contamination

During and after the Fukushima accident, the IRSN collected and interpreted the results of radiological measurements performed on foodstuffs of terrestrial origin published by Japan's Ministry of Health between mid-March 2011 and July 2012. Analysis of the findings shows that the accident's date, livestock-rearing practices and the deposits' characteristics had a decisive influence. The fact that radioactive fallout occurred very early in the growing and breeding season largely explains the moderate contamination of most foodstuffs of terrestrial origin, notably in the areas with the largest deposits. In the case of dairy products and meat, feeding imported fodder to livestock in stables, a common practice in Japan, compounded the calendar effect. Measurements published in Japan have also borne out the particular sensitivity of mushrooms, including cultivated species, and game

Contamination of Japanese foodstuffs of terrestrial origin after the Fukushima nuclear accident and related dose assessment

This article proposes an assessment of the ingestion doses potentially received by people living in the Japanese areas most severely affected by the radioactive deposits due to the Fukushima nuclear accident. The assessment distinguishes two consecutive periods: the first 2 months (March 15th to May 15th 2011) and the rest of the year 2011, according to the two main foodstuff contamination periods identified (Renaud et al., 2013). On the basis of the worst-case hypothesis that can reasonably be made, the estimated doses are much lower than they might have been in other circumstances, on account of generally moderate levels of contamination for most foods, early evacuation of the most severely affected areas and the consumption bans ordered by the Japanese authorities. Thus, a single ingestion of 100 g of leafy vegetables in the early days by a one-year-old child living in non-evacuated localities near Iitate and Kawamata could have led to an equivalent dose to the thyroid of about 25 mSv; and to a thyroid dose of about 140 mSv for the rather unrealistic scenario of a daily consumption. Because of the rapid decrease in the contamination of vegetables and a much weaker contamination of other crops, and thanks to measures taken by the authorities (prohibition of consumption, use of certain fodder, etc.), the ingestion doses potentially received during the remainder of the year 2011 are estimated to be below 1 mSv. In the event that sales limits would have been ignored, only repeated consumption of mushrooms would have led to doses above that level. Even with the worst-case hypotheses, the doses potentially caused by ingestion are much lower than those resulting from outdoor exposure to radioactive deposits: approximately several millisieverts in a year for the population living in the non-evacuated localities near Iitate and Kawamata

Evaluating variability and uncertainty in radiological impact assessment using SYMBIOSE

International audienceSYMBIOSE is a modelling platform that accounts for variability and uncertainty in radiological impact assessments, when simulating the environmental fate of radionuclides and assessing doses to human populations. The default database of SYMBIOSE is partly based on parameter values that are summarized within International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) documents. To characterize uncertainty on the transfer parameters, 331 Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs) were defined from the summary statistics provided within the IAEA documents (i.e. sample size, minimal and maximum values, arithmetic and geometric means, standard and geometric standard deviations) and are made available as spreadsheet files. The methods used to derive the PDFs without complete data sets, but merely the summary statistics, are presented. Then, a simple case-study illustrates the use of the database in a second-order Monte Carlo calculation, separating parametric uncertainty and inter-individual variability. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

Reference methodologies for radioactive controlled discharges an activity within the IAEA's program environmental modelling for radiation safety II (EMRAS II)

In January 2009, the IAEA EMRAS II (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety II) program was launched. The goal of the program is to develop, compare and test models for the assessment of radiological impacts to the public and the environment due to radionuclides being released or already existing in the environment; to help countries build and harmonize their capabilities; and to model the movement of radionuclides in the environment. Within EMRAS II, nine working groups are active; this paper will focus on the activities of Working Group 1: Reference Methodologies for Controlling Discharges of Routine Releases. Within this working group environmental transfer and dose assessment models are tested under different scenarios by participating countries and the results compared. This process allows each participating country to identify characteristics of their models that need to be refined. The goal of this working group is to identify reference methodologies for the assessment of exposures to the public due to routine discharges of radionuclides to the terrestrial and aquatic environments. Several different models are being applied to estimate the transfer of radionuclides in the environment for various scenarios. The first phase of the project involves a scenario of nuclear power reactor with a coastal location which routinely (continuously) discharges 60Co, 85Kr, 131I, and 137Cs to the atmosphere and 60Co, 137Cs, and 90Sr to the marine environment. In this scenario many of the parameters and characteristics of the representative group were given to the modellers and cannot be altered. Various models have been used by the different participants in this inter-comparison (PC-CREAM, CROM, IMPACT, CLRP POSEIDON, SYMBIOSE and others). This first scenario is to enable a comparison of the radionuclide transport and dose modelling. These scenarios will facilitate the development of reference methodologies for controlled discharges