The B-Shapes project led by South Denmark University publishes its first Policy Brief COVID-19 border closure effects on commuters, families and students, by Katja Sarmiento Mirwaldt and Sara Svensson (lead), with Caitriona Mullan, Martin Guillermo Ramirez, Peter Balogh, Pierrick Bruyas, Birte Wassenberg, Hynek Böhm, Damian Bączkiewicz, Martin Klatt, Oriana Miraka, Łukasz Moll and Elżbieta Opiłowska as co-authors.
(this news has been updated by the end of the project, February 2026)
Borders Shaping Perceptions of European Societies (B-SHAPES) is a Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action project that analyses how borders remain a key factor in our understanding of societies. Eight European universities, one research institute, a national museum, a foundation, a political association, a consultancy, and an art collective have come together for three years to exchange points of view, do research, organise focus groups, border walks, plenty of workshops and other events, as well as presentations in congresses and symposia, various sets of publications, and plenty of information about minorities, euroescepticism and landscape in border areas. Many feelings, opportunities, fears, hopes, and threats have been shared by local stakeholders, project holders, local and regional authorities, chambers of commerce, universities, enterprises and their associations, and civil society.
The special border region focus was a promising point of departure for new insights into how borders shape perceptions of societies, and how the story of borders can be narrated differently than from a purely national perspective.
This policy briefing paper is the first in a series produced by B-SHAPES to summarise and disseminate key findings from this research. The objective is to support an evidence-informed approach to policy debates and offer considerations for policymakers and those interested in the role of borders in the broader context of EU Cohesion policy and practice.
This first briefing is based on a review of content from 18 newspapers across a range of border regions in which B-Shapes is conducting case study work on how Schengen border closures during the pandemic affected people living and/or working in these regions, where mobility and connectivity are features of cross-border functional economic areas. It references issues such as border delays, variations in public health restrictions during the pandemic, entry restrictions affecting specific groups within the population, and the challenge of navigating the regulatory and operational implications of unilateral or single-jurisdiction decision-making in cross-border regions.
The briefing presents four recommendations for embedding lessons from the pandemic, as it affected the areas and groups within the scope of the research. While the media review focused on citizens’ experiences and impact on lives, from a reading of the analysis, it can also be noted that these issues are the day-to-day indicators of the existence of cross-border functional economic areas, cross-border labour markets, and regions which often have a high level of civil society cohesion across borders. Borders are not only geospatial demarcations between jurisdictions – they exist in the context of border regions and populations. While, in simple national terms, a border region may be regarded as peripheral and less significant in population terms, about 30% of the EU population lives in border regions, underscoring the importance of such considerations for a substantial share of the EU. As such, disruption to daily life implies disruption to fundamental economic and civil systems, with implications for how effectively the entire EU territory can function in an emergency scenario such as that experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lessons from the pandemic are, therefore, helpful in planning for and responding to future challenges.
The recommendations relate to – first, ensuring a common definition of proportionality as it relates to implementation of the Schengen Borders Code; secondly, bilateral co-ordination between Member States; thirdly, involvement of border-region stakeholders and their representative bodies (e.g. EGTCs, Euroregions); and finally, ensuring effective cross-border emergency planning and clear information and paperwork for citizens of border regions relating to their cross-border mobility, which would apply in future scenarios where borders may need to be closed.
Read the full Policy Brief #1 here
Visit our projects section to read other policy briefs, more B-Shapes publications (as long as the project is coming to its end), and other relevant aspects. You can also visit the B-Shapes website.
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