The effect of border closure on road potential accessibility in the regions of the EU-27. The case of the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of the paper is to show how the national border closures within the EU-27 have an impact on changes in potential accessibility in individual transport at the NUTS3 level. We are referring to the situation that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Europe in March 2020. The study distinguishes between long and short trips, comparing the situation before the pandemic with that after the complete closure of national borders by all EU countries, thus showing which areas of the EU will suffer from accessibility losses for both long and short trips. We conclude that the spatial pattern of regions at risk of peripheralisation for short trips well defines the zones in which a serious crisis threatens local cross-border commuting. The threat of peripheralisation for long trips mainly concerns those parts of countries which are closer to the demographic and economic core of the European Union. Nevertheless, it is also compounded by other factors: including the national settlement and road networks.