Business associations call for open borders for goods traffic

The border closures in the Corona crisis lead to traffic jams and threaten the supply chains from an economic perspective. Many associations criticize border controls in the EU.

Berlin (dpa) - In the face of border controls within the European Union due to the corona pandemic, business associations are demanding to ensure the free movement of goods.

"In order to maintain a wide food supply for the population even in the Corona crisis, it is essential to keep the borders open within the European Union," said the President of the German Farmers' Association, Joachim Rukwied, according to a message. "With all understanding of the need to curb the spread of the virus, ways other than closing the EU's internal borders and potentially putting supply chains at risk must be found."

The association therefore supports an initiative of the European Movement (EBD), about which the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" (Saturday) had previously reported. According to the EBD, 252 member organizations from society and economy belong to it.

Industry President Dieter Kempf said: "An uncoordinated closure of state borders leads to considerable economic losses and must not be a permanent solution." Foreign trade president Holger Bingmann therefore emphasized that in the past few weeks it had become clear "that border controls and restrictions on the free movement of people are part of the problem and not the solution". "They exacerbate the crisis instead of easing the situation," said the head of the Federal Association for Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA). The Federal Association of Medical Technology warned that the free movement of goods within the EU was "essential for ensuring the supply of medical devices".

In many places in the European Union, traffic jams are occurring due to border closures. This threatens the so-called just-in-time supply chains of many companies. The EU has also called for not obstructing the movement of goods. Germany controls the borders with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark to curb the spread of the new corona virus.