Euroregion Neisse-Nisa-Nysa (CZ-PL-DE)

• Author: Viaggi, Raffaele; Rubio, Jean; Peyrony, Jean
• Pages: 12-13

 ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF BORDER-RELATED MEASURE S TAKEN BY MS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19

 CASE STUDIES

12

Euroregion Neisse-Nisa-Nysa ( CZ-PL-DE )

Border controls and

cross-border mobility

Poland and Czechia decided unilaterally to close their borders and, as

a consequence, Germany also reintroduced border controls with its

neighbours. However, foreigners with residence or work permit were

allowed to cross borders.

Nonetheless, there were too many restrictions which made the bor-

der crossing and the professional activities nearly impossible

(compulsory stay of Czech commuters in the neighbouring country for

a period of 21 days followed by an obligatory 2 weeks quarantine at

home; Polish workers had to be tested negative on a daily basis to

cross borders).

Only a few border crossing points remained open, so traffic congestion

started becoming a problem. Most of the international and cross-bor-

der transportation services were interrupted. The tri-national railway

connecting Czechia, Poland and Germany remained operational but

travellers weren’t allowed to get off the train outside their own coun-

try.

CB coordination and di-

alogue during the cri-

sis and the de-

containment phase

National coordination was just residual and not very significant. Bor-

ders started reopening at the beginning of June, when international

and CB transportation services started being restored. However, dur-

ing the summer there were not as many passengers as before the

pandemic as a lot of people did not feel comfortable travelling abroad

even if the location just a few kilometres away from home. Nonethe-

less, new services were implemented in the summer: E.g. a “joint

week-end” bus line was launched in the Nysa Euroregion for people

to visit more than 5 different cultural and historical places.

Impact on cross-bor-

der workers

CB workers were the most affected by borders restrictions. Polish cit-

izens working in Czechia suffered the most from this crisis, as the

majority of them were employed i n non-qualified professions that

could not be carried o ut during the crisis. The other categories of CB

workers were generally able to work from home.

Impact on the users of

cross-border public

services (CPS)

The opposite of cooperation took place in the field of healthcare and

emergency. A Czech hospital located at the border with Germany

drastically reduced the cooperation with its neighbour during