Many European States temporarily
closed their borders to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and imposed
restrictive measures on passenger traffic, only allowing
commuters through.
As a result, the residents of frontier areas found themselves
suddenly unable to access a series of retail, educational,
health and cultural facilities on the other side of the border.
The was a shock for suppliers of services, who saw demand for
their products and services plummet.
Not all of Europe's border areas, however, were hit in the same
way by the frontier closures and the restrictive measures.
According to a study by the ESPON research programme
specialising in regional-policy analysis, the border regions of
the Benelux countries, of Germany, those on the east of Austria
and those along the Spanish- Portuguese border experienced the
biggest impacts.
The intensity of the effects in central-eastern Europe and among
the Baltic States was different, although sporadically so.
There was almost no impact, on the other hand, between the
Nordic countries, and along the borders in the Alps and the
Pyrenees.
According to the researchers, the impact of the restrictive
measures depended on various factors, such as the number of
border crossings, the quality of the road network and the
distribution (and sometimes asymmetry) of the service facilities
in the border areas.
Furthermore, the whole of these factors generated different
perceptions of the border closures among the peoples on either
side of the frontier.
There are border areas in Europe that depend to a large degree
on the structures on the other side, the researchers observed,
recommending political decision-makers to see crossings and
services as strategic elements, especially for these frontier
zones.
On this front, trans-frontier measures could contribute in a
significant way to guaranteeing these services, for example,
under the form of cross-border public services, in order to make
them accessible to users on the other side in all circumstances.
The researchers concluded that greater permeability between
borders in relation to services of general interest would
benefit the interested countries.
On one hand, it would increase (potential) demand and, in the
cases of public structures such as schools. nurseries and
hospitals, it could also generate economies of scale and
contribute to ensuring long-term provision.
On the other hand, it would improve the accessibility of the
services and, therefore, supply.
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