The COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst of cross-border cooperation? Lessons learnt for border-regional resilience

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a suspension of the Schengen Agreement within the European Union: national borders were partially controlled or closed. Especially in European border regions, where the idea of European integration is most evident, this led to limitations of cross-border linkages, putting the question of border-regional resilience into the focus of border studies. Based on the case study of German border regions, we operationalize the various impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the German border. Particularly interesting with regard to the concept of border-regional resilience are the results of a two-stage Delphi survey with border-regional experts. Even if the border closures as such were a political crisis, some of the long-term effects might be considered positive.