Germany's business groups alarmed over land border controls impacting economy

euronews (in English)

German industries are concerned about border checks causing delays and higher costs, calling for policies like green lanes to ease the impact on trade and workers.

Transcript

00:00Germany's business groups are raising the alarm over fears of how the country's extra

00:09border controls could impact the economy.

00:12The country's Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that companies are experiencing delays,

00:17which is especially a problem for time-sensitive goods like food.

00:22But it's not just the movement of products that is of concern, but of people as well.

00:28The Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt-Oder, a border town next to Poland, is advocating

00:32for workers coming into Germany to be able to pass through the checks more quickly, such

00:38as with special certificates given by the government.

00:41We experience that our enterprises we have in our region have problems commuting, regarding

00:48the commuting, also regarding the traffic of goods between the borders, and especially

00:58with the workforce that Germany relies on in specific economic areas.

01:04We have to have those commuters and we cannot lose them because we need them.

01:10A national association that works on the movement of freight and logistics told Euronews that

01:15it was especially concerned whether other European countries would bring back border

01:19checks as well.

01:20It said the return of barriers to Europe would be disastrous for the internal markets.

01:26The Interior Ministry says the checks are meant to decrease irregular migration and

01:32stop criminals.

01:33It says it wants to ensure the measures affect commuters and businesses as little as possible.

01:40The credit insurer Allianz Trade said expected delays could decrease trade and increase

01:45the risk of a recession.

01:48A group representing Germany's transport industry says the checks could end up increasing costs

01:53for companies, leading to higher prices for consumers.

01:58There could be traffic jams or there could be delays which will increase the cost for

02:02our truck companies and they will have problems with driving and rest time and they have to

02:08get higher prices for the transport solution and this is really a big problem.

02:14The association says if such delays happen, it will lobby the European Commission to set

02:20up special lanes so that most trucks can bypass the controls and to focus on tougher external

02:27border checks.

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