Samenvatting

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.