What kind of effects of border restrictions on the inhabitants of border regions during the first wave of the pandemic? New publication now available!

At a time when we are once again witnessing the closure of certain national borders, the M.O.T. invites you to take a step back by looking at the first phase of the COVID-19 crisis, corresponding to the spring of 2020, and its impact on interdependencies in cross-border living areas.



In July 2020, the MOT was commissioned by the DG REGIO to conduct an empirical analysis of the effects of the restrictions implemented by Member States during the first wave of the pandemic (between March and June 2020) on the inhabitants of border regions. To successfully carry out this mission, the contributions received by the members of our network were used and, with the help of CESCI and AEBR, more than twenty stakeholders were interviewed on 20 European border areas during the summer.

 

The study, entitled "The effects of COVID-19 induced border closures on cross-border regions", consists of two volumes:

 

  • A first one, structured in four chapters, including : (1) A detailed mapping of the border measures taken by all the Member States, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, both in the lockdown and decontainment phases; (2) An analysis of the very concrete impacts of these measures on the daily lives of the inhabitants of border regions in several specific areas (cross-border mobility, cross-border employment and workers, users of cross-border public services, economic activities, social, family and cultural activities); (3) An analysis of the role and added value of cross-border structures and agreements during the pandemic; (4) A final chapter retracing the main lessons learnt from this crisis, which has particularly penalised border territories, and outlining recommendations for the future. 
  • A second volume consists of a detailed compendium of 20 case studies on 20 European borders: from the Romanian-Bulgarian border to the Öresund. Particular attention was paid to the acceptance of these restrictions by the citizens, who were directly concerned.

Both reports can be found, in English only, on the website of the Publications Office of the European Commission: 

Main report cover

Commentaires

Profile picture for user Nath cbc
Soumis par Nathalie VERSCHELDE le mer, 10/02/2021 - 16:04

We in DG REGIO would like to thank the colleagues at MOT for carrying out this research on our behalf and for presenting the results in this compact manner.  We are also grateful for a series of smart recommendations to ALL levels of government involved in cross-border territories.  We hope to be able to push some of these recommendations in the coming months and years... and we hope that many of the next generation Interreg CBC programmes will mobilise to also contribute to turning the recommendations into concrete actions for the future.  Merci Jean, Jean et Raffaele...