The Economist USA - 21.03.2020

The Eeonomist March 21st 2020

Europe's borders

Frontier theatre

BERLIN

control• ue 101.ng up acm11 Europe. n

is unlikely to help much

T

wo HUNDRBD kilometres of glistening
slopes, a gorgeous Alpine setting and a
boisterous apres-ski scene make lschgl, a
resort in the westem Austrian state of Ty-
rol, one of Europe's livelier winter play-
grounds. n has also turned out to be one of
its worst coronavirus hotspots. Hundreds
of European cases, especially in the Nordic
counUies and Germany, have been traced
to lscbgl, many of them to a bar renowned
for its crowded, dancing-on-tables parties.
Air, road and r:ail links from Austria tooth-
er counUies have been cut. and govern-
ments have quarantined visitors returning
from the now-shuttered resorts.
The speed with which the virus has
raced from country to country has driven
seven! European governments to adopt a
familiar remedy: border controls. In the
past week. as govemments woke up to the
scale of the pandemic, seven! began limit-
ing entry to outsiders, albeit in haphazard
and un-coordinated fashion. Centnl Euro-
pean and some scandinavian countries
moved first, sealing off entry to most for-
eigners. On March 16th Germaoy imposed
controls at most ofits land frontiers, citing
the need to stop the spread of the virus but
also to limit cross-border panic-shopping.
Goods tr.msporters and commuters were
exempt, but for the first time in years they
needed to show uniformed officials docu-
mentaiy proof of their right to cross the
border. Hiccups were inevitable, especially
at Poland's tightly controlled frontiers.
TberewerereportsoflS-hourtrafficjamsat
one crossing with Germany. Some zi.ooo
peopleweretumed away in two days.
SUCh measures contradict the spirit, if
not the letter, of the European Union's
Schengenzone. Schengen is meant to guar-
antee document-free travel across the bor-
ders of its 26 member-countries (four of
which are not in the EU). It has provisions
for eme11encies. But the speed with which
governments erected checks revived un-
happy memories of the crisis in 2015-16,
when migrants poured across Schengen's
external border into Greece and internal
controls went up as far away as SWeden. Six
Schengen countries have had partial con-
trols in place ever since, making a mockery
of what are supposed to be strictly time-
limited exemptions. Now the virus is en-
couraging the barrier-builders.
The European Commission, as the body
cha11ed with keeping goods and &el'Vices
flowing ac1'088 the Bu's single market, frets

more than most. On March t7th European

heads of government approved a proposal

from Ursula von der Leyen, the commis-

sion's president, to block foreigners from

entering the EU for 30 days, with excep-

tions for legal residents, medical and

health workers, and citizens of Britain plus

the four non-Bu schengen members. Ms

von der Leyen hopes that tough action at

the external border will soothe leaders'

nerves enough to ease the internal ones,

which she fears could hold up the cross-

border provision of food, medical supplies

or transport workers. But there is little sign

ofthatyet.

Around So countries ha:ve restricted tra-

vel in someway since the outbreak began.

including America, which has imposed a

travel ban on Europe and closed its land

border with Canada. At the start of an out-

break, when a place has few or no infec-

tions, such controls can buy time for gov-

ernments to put in place social-distancing

measures. They might also reduce the like-

lihood that infections will resurge once a

country bas got its internal situation under

control, as China and South ICorea appear

to have done.

Yet most experts think border controls

are laqely useless for protecting areas in

which infected people are already mingl-

ing. "Prom an epidemiological point of

view border controls are a distraction, and

potentially a damaging one," says Christo-

pher Dye of Oxford Univenity. In a study Jn

2014, five analysts found that internal and

international travel restrictions imposed

duringinfluemaoutbreakscutthenumber

of new cases by less than 3%. During the

Ebola crisis in west Africa, controls may

havemadethingsworsebyencouragingin-

fectecl people to sneak across borders,

evading health checks.

lhere maybe a case for governments to

The end of the dream

Europe 47

introduce checks as part of a suite of ac-

tions to convince citizens that the threat is

serious enough to warrant adjusting their

behaviour: border controls as theatre. But

that must be set agaiust the costs of such

measures, from the Iisk of blocking goods

tr.msport to shoving airlines into bank-

ruptcy. Ultimately, says Dirk Brockmann at

Humboldt University in Berlin, the effect

of closing borders is marginal next to so-

cial-distancing measures designed to limit

interpersonal contact. That lesson may be

getting through. Five European countries,

including Austria, have now introduced

draconian rules banning citizens from

leaving home under most circumstances.

The new coronavirus will be defeated in-

side borders, not at them. •

France

The virus and the

vote

PARIS

P'r.mce enters lockdown and suspends

its election

A

N EBRIB SILENCE descended on the

French capital at noon on March 17th.

In a city famed for its cate culture and street

life, policemen with megaphones were on

patrol, checking papers and ordering those

still out without permission to go back in-

doors. All residents counttywide were told

to stay at home, unless they need to shop

for food or medicine, attend medical ap-

pointments, or go to an essential job. Yet

just two days earlier the same government

had urged the French to vote in the first

round of the municipal elections in the

countiy's 35,000 cities, towns and villages.

As the countty adjusts to the diastic

new regime, questions are inevitably being

asked. Tbeweekbeforeconfinement, may-

onl candidates were still holding rallies,

though with a cap of i.ooo people. on

March 12th President Emmanuel Macron

announced that the situation was worrying

enough to close all schools and universi-

ties from March 16th. His prime minister,

Edouard Philippe, introduced stage three

on March 14th, shutting all caf&, restau-

r.mts, non-food shops, hairdressers, cine-

mas and sports centres. The elections, they

said, would go ahead.

There followed surreal scenes on voting

day. Polling stations were organised to en-

sure that staff and voters remained at least

a metre apart. Returning officers counted

the vote wearing masks and gloves. Official

results were declared, showing, broadly, a

strong Green vote, backing for incumbent

mayors, poor support for Mr Macron's

party and a record low turnout. Yet, at the

same time, Parisians were to be foundgath-~