Differences between Germany´s and the Netherlands´ handling of COVID-19 and its effects on the cross-national labour market: A View on European Integration

This paper deals with the economic situation in the Rhine-Meuse border region between Germany and the Netherlands. Specifically, the labour market will be addressed by asking: How do national differences in the management of the pandemic affect the labour market in the Rhine-Meuse border region between Germany and the Netherlands positively or negatively? After discussing the out lines of the research project, a specific set of key performance indicators will be mirrored with the national regulations enacted during the pandemic to identify possible relations. This article argues that actions to save both national economies were enacted in a very desynchronized way, meaning the timing, type, and size of economic stimuli and rescue packages. This uncoordinated acting and the lack of cooperation in this regard led to disturbances in the previously ( January/February 2020) parallel developing labour market. Additionally, this article argues that the political segmentation of this labour market is partially responsible for the differences in development. Almost all metrics researched resembled disturbances in the labour market that could have been prevented by better practices. Towards the end of 2020, this labour market finds itself in a situation in which both sides have different growth outlooks