EU leaders approved a complete shut down of the bloc's external borders to all non-essential travel, except truck deliveries, for the next 30 days to restrict the spread of Covid-19. Measures are being adopted to keep goods flowing within the EU too.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a press conference earlier this week that the external border rules will apply to 26 members of the European Union (EU), plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland
"It's up to them now to implement it. They said they would immediately do that," said von der Leyen.
She also drew attention to the delays at the EU's internal borders: "It is absolutely critical that we unblock that situation because we know that too many people are stranded within the EU and are having problems going back home. Of course, we have a lot of traffic jams with lorries transporting goods; the flow of goods has to be swift, we need these goods for the functioning of the internal market."
The EC proposed that 'green lanes' be opened to expedite the flow of goods at the borders.
To help monitor any supply chain disruption, shipment visibility provider Sixfold has developed a free and live shipment delivery map that predicts delays for trucks crossing EU borders.
Up to 40 miles (64.4 km) of queues have been reported on the Lithuanian-Polish border, while similar traffic jams have disrupted travel over Germany and Poland and Hungarian-Austrian travel, said Sixfold.
The shipment delivery map can be viewed here: sixfold.com/covid-19
