Published work
Tosolini, M., ‘The First Oil Shock and the European Financial Assistance’, Economie & Institutions, 2024, 27p. Available here in french
In this article, I study the negotiations and the implementation of the first borrowing mechanism of the European Economic Community (EEC). Using historical archives, I show that following the first oil shock, the EEC Commission sought to implement a European policy to tackle with the economic consequences of the shock. It played the role of a political entrepreneur and succeeded in imposing its views.
The Community Loan Mechanism was established in 1975, empowering the Commission to borrow money on the financial markets in order to grant loans to Member States facing balance of payments deficits due to the oil shock.
Consequently, the Commission became a supranational borrower on the international capital market (the euromarkets).
Working Papers
Tosolini, M., Tadjeddine, Y. and Vincensini, C., ‘Becoming a safe issuer without being a sovereign: the case of bond issuance by the European Coal and Steel Community’, BETA Working Paper, 2026-02, 25p. Available here in french.
Although the literature in economic history has thoroughly examined the development of sovereign debt markets and financial reputation mechanisms, little has been said about the debt of international and European institutions. This article aims to conceptualise and empirically study investor perceptions of ‘quasi-sovereign’ borrowers, such as the European Union and its predecessors. The article has two main objectives. Firstly, it seeks to conceptualise credit risk in the case of quasi-sovereign borrowers. Secondly, it studies the gradual development of the financial reputation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) from 1954 to 1980. Using historical archives and quantitative data, the research shows that the ECSC, a new and unknown public institution in 1954, gradually became a well-reputed borrower on financial markets. This enabled the ECSC to borrow on financial markets at better financial conditions than those of some European countries. This historical case study sheds new light on the ongoing debates on the European Union’s debt and its financial reputation.
Tosolini, M., ‘Financing Industries on a Community Scale: the ECSC’s Borrowing Policy’, BETA Working Paper, 2024-28, 22p. Available here in french.
This article analyses the implementation of the borrowing policy of the first European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). Using historical archives and a hand-created database, I mixed a qualitative and quantitative approach to study the evolution of the financial techniques used by the ECSC to borrow on the financial markets.
This study shows that the evolution of the borrowing operations reflects the evolution of the international monetary system. In an initial period, the ECSC borrowed on the American markets, in dollars. It borrowed gradually on European capital markets and then on the euro-dollar market and the euromarkets. From the 1980s onwards, the ECSC progressively became a borrower on the interbank market, using financial derivatives, such as interest or currency swaps.
Regards croisés sur l’économie Publications
Regards croisés sur l’économie is a socio-economic jounal, founded by French students. Journal website
Monnet, E., Interview by Alex Amiotte Suchet and Marion Tosolini 2025, ‘Organising and financing the war economy’, Regards croisés sur l’économie, 36, 27-35. Available here
Amiotte Suchet A., Glass A., Tosolini M, ‘Seeking for innovation. Accumulation, diffusion, legitimation’, Regards croisés sur l’économie Available here
Guérin A. & Tosolini M., 2023 ‘Demand beyond prices’, Regards croisés sur l’économie, 32, 117-124. Available here
Monnet, E., Interview by Louis Daumas and Marion Tosolini 2023, ‘Central Banks and Price Stability’, Regards croisés sur l’économie, 32, 220-229. Available here