B0866B8FNJ

As the Coronavirus spreads, can the EU afford to close its borders?

Raffaella Meninno and Guntram Wolff

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Figure 2 Number of outbound trips of one night and over from EU27 citizens to

EU27 countries (2018)

Number of trips abroad of 1 night and over from EU 28 citizens to EU 28 countries (2018) - Infogram 05/03/2020, 07: 11

https://e.infogram.com/13b48460-e176-4909-a9b3-db0fb162041f?pa...an-the-eu-afford-to-close-its-borders%2F&src=embed#async_embed Page 1 of 1

Number of outbound trips of 1 night and over from EU 27 citizens

to EU 27 countries (2018)

Personal reasons 87.64%

Professional, business 12.36%

100% = 319,960,265 trips

Source: Eurostat [tour_dem_ttpur]

Share

Note: 100% = 319,960,265 trips Source: Eurostat [tour_dem_ttpur]

When, back in 2015,^2 we looked at the effects of border controls in the context of

the migration crisis, we argued that the direct economic effects of additional border

controls were likely to be relatively limited. The assessment now would be different:

stopping cross-border travel would lead to a major disruption of economic activity. It is

therefore no surprise that the EU for the time being has decided not to close borders.^3

2 See https://www.bruegel.org/2015/12/cross-border-commuters-and-trips-the-relevance-of-schengen/

3 See https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eu-says-no-to-border-closure-allocates-e232-million-to-fight-coronavirus/