Cross-border cooperation in the border region of Germany, France, and Luxembourg in times of Covid-19

ABSTRACT

The process of European integration has tended to diminish the significance of borders within the EU. In that respect, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in spring 2020 was all the greater: 35 years after the signing of the Schengen Agreement, checks and closures suddenly reappeared at many former border crossing points; long queues at crossing points, families and friends cut off from each other, and complex individual fates descended like a pall on European societies. At the same time, the advanced state of integration of borderlands became apparent - a striking example being the SaarLorLux region across the common borders of Germany, France, and Luxembourg. The article inquires into the political response to the impact of the Corona crisis across this border region. The analysis shows that on many levels SaarLorLux is perceived as a tightly meshed integration area in which functional exchange is normal, and that a corresponding ideational shock was felt at all political levels when border controls were reintroduced. However, the situation also had positive effects in terms of cross-border cooperation. Many political actors see the institutionalization of cross-border integration as having grown in the pandemic and are unanimous in wanting future developments in this respect.

KEYWORDS:

• Covid-19 pandemic
• cross-border governance
• Saarland
• Moselle
• Luxembourg

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful for the constructive comments and suggestions offered by the anonymous referees and the editor.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 I am indebted to my colleague Nora Crossey for leading the research project and conducting the interviews, and to the Saarland State Chancellery for funding this project.

2 French and German citations are translated here into English.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Saarland State Chancellery.

Notes on contributors

Florian Weber

Florian Weber studied geography, business administration, sociology and journalism at the University of Mainz (Germany) and gained his doctorate at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg with a thesis comparing German and French area-based policies in light of discourse theory. Since October 2016 he has been Associate Lecturer (Akademischer Rat) at the University of Tübingen's Department of Geography, where he completed his post-doctoral degree (Habilitation) in 2018. In April 2019 he was appointed Junior Professor of European Studies at Saarland University, with special reference to Western Europe and border regions. His research focuses on cross-border multi-level governance, renewable energies, and comparative international urban district policies and development.