The Economist 04Apr2020

The EconomistApril 4th 2020 Europe 27

2 seasonal farm workers, can cross borders.
But Bulgarians and Romanians travelling
to western Europe would normally go
through Hungary, which shut its border
with Romania in mid-March. (It has re-
opened, but mainly for freight and com-
muters who live near the frontier.) Even
where borders are open, many workers are
not coming, worried about contracting co-
vid-19 abroad or being quarantined when
they return.
Staying at home means hardship. Nitfie
Salimova, a Bulgarian, had planned to go to
Belgium in May to pick berries, a job that
last year earned her €150 ($160) per day.
That is almost half the Bulgarian minimum
monthly wage. Her earnings paid for
smartphones for her daughters and a Black
Sea holiday. The head of a Bulgarian agency
that sends 500 workers per year to Ger-
many, Austria and Britain says no one is go-
ing now; in fact, scores are heading home.
In Poland the problem is not just loss of
jobs in Germany, but a shortage of the Uk-
rainians who work on Polish farms. Jakub
Sztandera, who grows mushrooms in
Siedlce, employs 200 workers in his cli-
mate-controlled sheds, 90% of them Uk-
rainian. When Poland closed its borders on
March 14th, Ukrainians rushed to leave,
and Mr Sztandera is not sure how to replace
them. Around 1.3m Ukrainians were esti-
mated to be working in Poland before the
border closed. The head of the country’s
farmer’s union says that without them the
food supply will be at risk.
Some countries hope to limit the dam-
age by letting workers who are already
there stay longer. Belgium has lengthened
work-permits for foreign farmhands, and
Germany has extended the period in which
they can work without paying local social
security taxes. In the Netherlands a col-
lapse of demand for flowers has left work-
ers who came to pluck tulips with little to
do; some have gone to vegetable farms.
Another solution is to recruit locals
idled by the shutdown. In Germany a web-
site for farm jobs received thousands of
postings on its first day. France’s agricul-
tural umbrella organisation, the fnsea,
says its new jobs site has 150,000 subscrib-
ers. An online jobs market in the Nether-
lands called “Help Us Harvest” has 2,500
openings. But it is not clear how many jobs
have actually been filled.
Europe’s farmers would rather not rely
on first-timers. Edwin Veenhoeve, an as-
paragus farmer in the Netherlands, says
that in the past 40 years perhaps ten Dutch
people had ever applied to work the harvest
on his family farm. This month alone 30
have applied. Still, compared with experi-
enced Poles, Romanians and Bulgarians,
they are not ideal farmhands, he adds:
“Dutch people are used to working Monday
to Friday, nine to five. But the asparagus
keeps growing seven days a week.” 7

W

hile sweden’sfellow Scandinavians

and nearly all other Europeans are

spending most of their time holed up at

home under orders from their govern-

ments, Swedes last weekend still enjoyed

the springtime sun sitting in cafés and

munching pickled herrings in restaurants.

Swedish borders are open, as are cinemas,

gyms, pubs and schools for those under 16.

Restrictions are minimal: the government

recommends frequent handwashing for

all, working from home for those who can,

and self-isolation for those who feel ill or

are older than 70. That includes King Gus-

taf and his wife Silvia, who are self-isolat-

ing in a castle. Only on March 29th did Swe-

den ban gatherings of more than 50.

Britain had a similarly relaxed approach

until March 23rd, but then the government

imposed a national lockdown. As the num-

ber of reported infections and deaths

among the 10m Swedes rose to 4,947 and

239 respectively as of March 31st, many

predict that Sweden will soon follow the

rest of Europe’s example. Some fear it may

have wasted precious time.

Inherent in Sweden’s social contract is

trust in the state, trust by the state in its

citizens and trust among citizens, explains

Lars Traghardt, a historian. Swedes can be

relied on to adhere to rules voluntarily and

to self-regulate. Moreover, jokes Carl Bildt,

a former prime minister, “Swedes, espe-

cially of the older generation, have a genet-

ic disposition to social distancing anyway.”

Over half of Swedish households consist of

just one person, the highest number of sin-

gle-person households in the world. The

country is sparsely populated. And Swedes

do not kiss or hug as much as southern

Europeans tend to do.

Business leaders have been more vocal

in their opposition to a national lockdown

than in other countries. Jacob Wallenberg,

chairman of Investor, an investment com-

pany, warned about social unrest, violence,

dramatic unemployment and great suffer-

ing if the covid crisis goes on for long in an

interview with the Financial Times. Johan

Torgeby, chief executive of seb, a bank,

worries about creating a banking crisis on

top of an economic and health crisis.

So far the policy of Stefan Lofven, the

prime minister, has been guided by the in-

dependent Public Health Agency. Anders

Tegnell, the agency’s chief epidemiologist,

advised the government to let the virus

spread as slowly as possible while shelter-

ing the vulnerable until much of the popu-

lation becomes naturally immune or a vac-

cine becomes available.

Yet some experts worry that Mr Lofven

is prioritising the health of the economy

over that of the public. A petition signed by

more than 2,000 scientists and professors,

including Carl-Henrik Heldin, the chair-

man of the Nobel Foundation, called on the

government to introduce more stringent

containment measures. It is too risky to let

people decide how to behave, argues Joa-

cim Rocklov, an epidemiologist at Umea

University.

During other pandemics, such as the

outbreak of cholera at the end of the 19th

century or the aidspandemic in the 1980s,

Sweden imposed more stringent restric-

tions than its neighbours. So far the public

is supportive of Mr Lofven’s contrarian

strategy—but once the death toll rises this

may quickly change. 7

STOCKHOLM

The government is likely to tighten its

lax restrictions soon

Sweden and covid-19

Europe’s outlier

Hurry up please, it’s time