EU nations must take care not to damage food and medicine supply lines as they slap on border restrictions in the drive to curb the spread of coronavirus, the EU’s executive arm said yesterday.
From Portugal in the west to economic powerhouse Germany to Hungary in the east, EU countries have tightened frontier controls across the normally open-border Schengen zone, which includes most member states as well as non-members Switzerland and Norway.
“The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the challenge of protecting the health of the population whilst avoiding disruptions to the free movement of persons, and the delivery of goods and essential services across Europe,” the European Commission said in a note to the 27-member states.
Photo: AP / DPA
“The implementation of ... checks of persons and goods should be governed by the principle of solidarity between member states,” said the new border management guidelines, which the commission circulated to national capitals yesterday.
Member states’ ambassadors to Brussels were to discuss the matter when they meet in person at 6pm yesterday. Most other policy discussions in the EU are now conducted by videoconference, including a call between European leaders scheduled for today on the health and ensuing economic crises.
With the official death toll in Italy now at nearly 1,300 and at about 300 in Spain, the commission’s calls for unity and solidarity have been falling largely on deaf ears as each nation tries to fend for itself, and reports spread of cars and trucks getting stuck at what are normally invisible borders.
The commission said suspending freedom of movement for people, goods and services — fundamental principles of the EU Single Market — risked exacerbating panic buying and aggravating the economic impact of the coronavirus.
In other news, China is relaxing travel restrictions in the hardest-hit province of Hubei, sending thousands of workers back to jobs at factories desperate to get production going again.
Xinhua news agency yesterday reported that cities just outside the epicenter of Wuhan were chartering buses to send back to work residents who had returned home for the Lunar New Year in late January.
The move comes as Chinese officials say the outbreak that spread from Wuhan starting in December has mostly run its course domestically, while they remain vigilant against imported cases.
Additional reporting by AP
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