What would reintroducing border controls cost Europe?

Jan 27, 2016

This article was originally published by Bruegel, the Brussels-based think tank.

Image: A truck passes a sign for Germany's truck road toll system "Maut" in Rosenheim, southern Germany, January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Michael Dalder.

Uuriintuya Batsaikhan

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3.8 million trucks from Austria and 3.1 million trucks from Poland crossed the German border in 2015. As the chart shows, they constitute the second and third most common origins for trucks crossing to Germany, after the Netherlands.

These numbers are increasing every year. From 1995 to 2012, Germany’s international road freight grew by 44 percent. 78 percent of total goods transport is currently carried out by road.

If temporary controls, such as in Denmark and Sweden, were to be implemented by Germany or its neighbours, the economic costs of delays would be considerable.

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