A new point of contention in the EU

A new point of contention in the EU

European borders seem to be closing again, Deutsche Welle writes.

Former President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker did not have to think much at the beginning of the year when asked about his worst experience during the first wave of coronavirus. In an interview with DW, he said: "Germany has closed its borders (towards Luxembourg) without thinking about the citizens who are victims of Berlin's arbitrariness."

In February 2021, Juncker can relax. The traffic between the two countries is running smoothly. Anyone traveling from Germany to Juncker's homeland of Luxembourg does not have to fear border controls or go into quarantine. The borders are still invisible. However, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises not to travel to the neighboring country due to the large number of newly infected (170 per 100.000 inhabitants in the last seven days).

Strict regulations replace closing borders

The border between Germany and Luxembourg is one of the few national borders in the European Union which, despite the current situation, is still fully open. Most EU member states have lowered the border ramps, at least virtually. Strict quarantine regulations and entry formalities frighten those who travel - or completely ban them from crossing the border in non-emergency cases.

Many politicians also failed to keep their promises that borders would not separate people again during the pandemic. Regional politicians can often only try to limit the damage.

Christophe Arend is a member of the French National Assembly for the town of Forbach, on the border with the German town of Zarbrücken. In the past year, he has repeatedly stressed that borders no longer play any role and that lockdown would only separate families and villages. That didn't help much, however.

In January, the government in Paris decided to allow citizens from EU countries to enter France only with a negative coronavirus test. Arend succeeded in exempting from that decree those who constantly cross the border and who do not stay outside France for more than 24 hours.

There are almost no protests due to border controls

There are currently no major protests over new regulations in the French-German border area. In contrast, the situation in southern Germany is much more tense. Austria has long stalled tourist travel to the country by imposing a ten-day quarantine. Those who nevertheless decide to travel must have a negative PCR or antigen test, not older than 72 hours. Everyone who enters Austria must register electronically before traveling, and have a registration certificate. These regulations apply even to small cross-border traffic.

But the German side has also greatly expanded its controls recently. "We are trying to control as much as possible," said Stefan Sontag, a police spokesman in southern Upper Bavaria. The explanation for the controls, according to the German side, primarily refers to the spread of much more contagious coronavirus mutations in the Austrian border province of Tyrol and to the mitigation of the measures that came into force in Austria at the beginning of the week.

Protection of success

For the Bavarian side, the complete closing of the borders is no longer a taboo: the Secretary General of the CSU, the ruling party in that German province, described the step as a "last resort". Bavarian Prime Minister, Markus Zeder, also criticized neighboring Austria with unusually fierce criticism: "I think it is debatable that Austria is introducing a comprehensive easing of measures in this uncertain situation, although the incidence is much higher there than in Bavaria."

Zeder did not rule out the closure of the border with the Czech Republic, if that country is not able to tighten measures urgently. The Czech Republic, he said, is an area where a virus mutation is present, so closing the borders could soon be on the agenda. He added that this also applies to Austria, which has been severely affected by the mutated variant of the South African virus.

There are no exceptions for property owners either

It is not only Germany that is trying to preserve its success in the fight against the pandemic through strict border control. Denmark, which now has a weekly incidence of about 50 cases per 100.000 inhabitants, has declared the whole world a high-risk area. Tourists are completely banned from entering the country. Even those who own boats or holiday homes in Denmark cannot enter the country. There are exceptions only for those who work in border areas, but they must also have a negative coronavirus test. Although the heads of state and government of the European Union try to agree on common regulations at online summits, the rules for entry differ in practically every country in the Union.

Lack of coordination at EU level

From the standpoint of the #Nocovid strategy, which is being discussed in Germany, coordination would be necessary. Otherwise, the plan lacks an important basis. "No COVID" is an initiative in Germany that wants the seven-day incidence to drop below ten, and only then to ease the measures. So far, however, EU partners have failed to agree on a single testing strategy. Even when it comes to opening schools, each member state acts differently.

Whether it is Germany, France, Austria or Denmark - all governments in Europe are trying to reduce population movements in order to slow down the spread of the virus. Border controls should function in accordance with that logic. Other concepts were discussed last year. Experts hoped that coronavirus applications would help combat the pandemic - even across borders.

The application works across borders

Members of the European Union have managed to achieve at least some technical progress in that area. More than ten warning applications are now compatible - a few days ago, the Austrian application was also optimized. An Austrian who had potentially dangerous contact with a user of a German application is now being alerted via his application. This data exchange also exists for neighboring countries, Belgium, Denmark and Poland.

With borders already closed, application efficiency is limited. Especially because even in Germany, where the application is especially widely used, it has not been noticed that it has any effect on the infection rate.

At the EU level, an aggravating circumstance stands in the fact that France uses a variant of applications that is not compatible with everything else, and which is considered unsuccessful in the country itself. The homeland of former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was completely excluded from that project. A country with a large number of those who constantly cross the border with Germany has not developed a coronavirus warning application and probably will not do so.