The European Union Budget: The European Cup of Economic Affairs- UK vs France. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series. Vol. 1, No. 3, December 2005

[From the Introduction] The first EU budget was drafted in 1988 under the so-called “Delors Package I.” Its budgetary headings and monetary distribution have remained unchanged until 14th July 2004, when the Commission adjusted its traditional model to a new system of headings to adapt the budget to an evolutionary economical environment. The budget of the European Union distinguishes itself from other international bodies by its exclusive system of the so-called “own resources.” This system is composed of the revenues obtained by (1) the Common Customs duties collected under the external tariff; (2) the levies in imported agricultural products; (3) the Value Added Tax revenue; and (4) the Gross National Income based resources. The EU budget sets out and authorizes the total amount of revenues and expenditures annually deemed necessary by the European Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. However, the EU budget is a seven-year multi-annual spending plan articulated around a ¨financial framework¨ that ensures the control of the evolution of the budget expenditure. The budget is drafted and implemented under the ¨Financial Programming and Budget¨ Directorate General and is supervised by the European Parliament and the Court of Auditors. The EU budget not only rests on the three basic accounting principles: unity, annuality and balance, which guarantee its economic efficiency, but also on the composition of its revenues, the so-called “own resources.

Fully automated calculation in fermion scattering

The package aITALC has been developed for fully automated calculations of two fermion production at e+ e- collider and other similar reactions. We emphasize the connection and interoperability between the different modules required for the calculation and the external tools Diana, Form and LoopTools. Results for e+ e- -> f anti-f, e+ e- are presented.Comment: 5 pages, 2 tables, 2 figures. Contribution to the X International Workshop on Advanced Computing and Analysis Techniques in Physics Research, ACAT 2005, May 22-27, 2005, Zeuthen (Germany

An Integrated Tool for Loop Calculations: aITALC

aITALC, a new tool for automating loop calculations in high energy physics, is described. The package creates Fortran code for two-fermion scattering processes automatically, starting from the generation and analysis of the Feynman graphs. We describe the modules of the tool, the intercommunication between them and illustrate its use with three examples.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, 8 table

The US dollar and the euro – Deus Ex Machina: The dollar may be our currency, but it’s your problem. EUMA Papers, Vol.5, No.9 April 2008

[Introduction]. Until the 19th and mid-20th centuries, economic theory explained that the economic status of a country was represented by the strength of its currency.2 This strength is measured by the exchange rate of one currency vis-á-vis another currency, a “zero-sum” game in which one currency gains what the other loses. In fact, during the 19th century, the strength of the Pound Sterling facilitated Britain’s global hegemonic political and economic power known as the Pax Britanica. During the 20th century, the strength of the US dollar represented both the economic and political hegemony of the US around the world known as the Pax Americana. Nowadays, the weakness of the US dollar is making specialists wonder if we are witnessing the end of Pax Americana and the beginning of something else, possibly a Pax Europea, led by the strength of the euro. This is the argument surrounding the current behaviour of the US$-€ exchange rate and its effect on the economic performance of these two economic blocs. While the current exchange rate between the US dollar and the euro has been considered a blessing for the US, it has become a matter of concern for most Eurozone countries. In fact, we are witnessing an unprecedented scenario where the country with a weak currency is actually pleased and the group of countries with a strong currency is worried. The strength of the euro is becoming irritating for the Eurozone and, nevertheless, the weakness of the US dollar is also pushing it to the brink of losing its status as a global currency. This exchange rate debate is accompanied by another debate concerning how the latest monetary policy actions taken by the US and Eurozone monetary authorities3, aimed at solving current economic imbalances, are affecting the US$-€ exchange rate. Scholars, economists, and politicians argue that these monetary policies seem unable to solve today’s economic problems in the EU as well as in the Eurozone, but are having a tremendous impact on the US$-€ exchange rate. This paper will explain in layman’s terms the relationship (or lack thereof) between two of today’s most important economic issues: the US dollar and euro exchange rate, and the monetary policy behind it

Adaptive Robust Optimization with Dynamic Uncertainty Sets for Multi-Period Economic Dispatch under Significant Wind

The exceptional benefits of wind power as an environmentally responsible renewable energy resource have led to an increasing penetration of wind energy in today's power systems. This trend has started to reshape the paradigms of power system operations, as dealing with uncertainty caused by the highly intermittent and uncertain wind power becomes a significant issue. Motivated by this, we present a new framework using adaptive robust optimization for the economic dispatch of power systems with high level of wind penetration. In particular, we propose an adaptive robust optimization model for multi-period economic dispatch, and introduce the concept of dynamic uncertainty sets and methods to construct such sets to model temporal and spatial correlations of uncertainty. We also develop a simulation platform which combines the proposed robust economic dispatch model with statistical prediction tools in a rolling horizon framework. We have conducted extensive computational experiments on this platform using real wind data. The results are promising and demonstrate the benefits of our approach in terms of cost and reliability over existing robust optimization models as well as recent look-ahead dispatch models.Comment: Accepted for publication at IEEE Transactions on Power System

The Reform Treaty: Its Impact on the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was created in 1993 by the Maastricht Treaty1 as the second of the three pillars that shapes the European Union. The main coordinator of the CFSP is the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (High Representative CF/SP). Under the ¨European Constitution¨ the pillar structure was going to disappear, which meant that the role of the CFSP would be further incorporated into the functions of the rest of the Union. Moreover, the office of the High Representative was going to be merged with the post of the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs to create a “Union Minister for Foreign Affairs.” However, the project of the ¨European Constitution¨ is programmed to be transformed into a ¨Reform Treaty¨. This paper will examine how the “Reform Treaty” will modify the functions of the CFSP, the position of High Representative CF/SP, and its role on the international stage.Reform treaty, CFSP, European Constitution, High Representative of the Union

The European Union Budget

The first EU budget was drafted in 1988 under the so-called “Delors Package I.” Its budgetary headings and monetary distribution have remained unchanged until 14th July 2004, when the Commission adjusted its traditional model to a new system of headings to adapt the budget to an evolutionary economical environment. The budget of the European Union distinguishes itself from other international bodies by its exclusive system of the so-called “own resources.” This system is composed of the revenues obtained by (1) the Common Customs duties collected under the external tariff; (2) the levies in imported agricultural products; (3) the Value Added Tax revenue; and (4) the Gross National Income based resources. The EU budget sets out and authorizes the total amount of revenues and expenditures annually deemed necessary by the European Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. However, the EU budget is a seven-year multi-annual spending plan articulated around a ¨financial framework¨ that ensures the control of the evolution of the budget expenditure. The budget is drafted and implemented under the ¨Financial Programming and Budget¨ Directorate General and is supervised by the European Parliament and the Court of Auditors. The EU budget not only rests on the three basic accounting principles: unity, annuality and balance, which guarantee its economic efficiency, but also on the composition of its revenues, the so-called “own resources.”EU budget

The US Dollar and the Euro: Deus Ex-Machina

Until the 19th and mid-20th centuries, economic theory explained that the economic status of a country was represented by the strength of its currency. This strength is measured by the exchange rate of one currency vis-á-vis another currency, a “zero-sum” game in which one currency gains what the other loses. In fact, during the 19th century, the strength of the Pound Sterling facilitated Britain’s global hegemonic political and economic power known as the Pax Britanica. During the 20th century, the strength of the US dollar represented both the economic and political hegemony of the US around the world known as the Pax Americana. Nowadays, the weakness of the US dollar is making specialists wonder if we are witnessing the end of Pax Americana and the beginning of something else, possibly a Pax Europea, led by the strength of the euro. This is the argument surrounding the current behaviour of the US$-€ exchange rate and its effect on the economic performance of these two economic blocs. While the current exchange rate between the US dollar and the euro has been considered a blessing for the US, it has become a matter of concern for most Eurozone countries. In fact, we are witnessing an unprecedented scenario where the country with a weak currency is actually pleased and the group of countries with a strong currency is worried. The strength of the euro is becoming irritating for the Eurozone and, nevertheless, the weakness of the US dollar is also pushing it to the brink of losing its status as a global currency. This exchange rate debate is accompanied by another debate concerning how the latest monetary policy actions taken by the US and Eurozone monetary authorities , aimed at solving current economic imbalances, are affecting the US$-€ exchange rate. Scholars, economists, and politicians argue that these monetary policies seem unable to solve today’s economic problems in the EU as well as in the Eurozone, but are having a tremendous impact on the US$-€ exchange rate. This paper will explain in layman’s terms the relationship (or lack thereof) between two of today’s most important economic issues: the US dollar and euro exchange rate, and the monetary policy behind it.Monetary policy, Euro, US Dollar,

The EU-China Trading-Economic Relationship Is Not a Zero-Sum Game

The European Union (EU) presented on Tuesday, October 24th, 2006, “EU-China: Closer partners, growing responsibilities” which establishes the bases for a new, extended partnership and cooperation agreement with Beijing. This new agreement is necessary since the current 1985 “Trade and Co-operation Agreement” does not reflect the recent surge in trade between the two regions. Even though China has passed the first law targeting money-laundering, the EU keeps criticizing that China’s current market barriers, intellectual property violations, and continuous state intervention to maintain an undervalued currency are undermining the beginning of a prosperous new era of EU-China economic relations -- especially, if the currency devaluation were to continue, even after being member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In fact, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that despite China having allowed more movement in the currency since September, a faster appreciation of China’s currency, the renminbi, is required since the surge in China's net exports and increase in its foreign exchange reserves demonstrates that the currency remains extremely undervalued. Furthermore, China is also being heavily criticized for opening the market to foreign banks too slowly, stating that a “free for all” would “damage the system.” This situation will be a truly devastating zero-sum game for Europe because the EU will be loosing jobs and reducing the living standard, while subsidizing China's poverty with European money. For this reason, EU has stated that “there is a growing risk that the EU-China trading relationship will not be seen as genuinely reciprocal. Political pressure in the EU to resist further openness to Chinese competition is likely to increase if these problems are not addressed.”