Trier mayor Wolfram Leibe says there are “smarter methods” than the current checks on the German border with Luxembourg, and is urging Berlin to consider alternatives.

German politician Alexander Dobrindt said in a podcast in August that the controls would be extended until March 2026, rekindling frustration in Luxembourg, where Home Affairs Minister Léon Gloden (CSV) has opposed the measure introduced by Germany in September 2024.

Leibe has publicly backed Gloden, who has called the controls “absurd”. Luxembourg has sent a complaint to the European Commission over the border checks but decided not to take Germany to the European Court of Justice over violating the Schengen agreement.

Also read:Germany says border controls have cost €80m

Speaking to Radio 100,7 on Friday, Leibe said that although he has “no influence on border controls,” he has a “clear position.” While the checks have not harmed Trier as a business location, he argued there are better tools than “putting young police officers on the motorway to carry out checks.”

Pointing to France, Leibe said the country has had “good experiences” with alternative tactics and urged Berlin to “look at what other European partners are doing smarter.”

As deputy president of the Association of Major German Cities, he added that many colleagues in central Germany do not share the day-to-day experiences of border regions, where commuters and shoppers usually flow freely.

The end of the rent freeze in Trier is a cause for concern for the city’s mayor © Photo credit: Lex Kleren/LW-Archiv

Concerns over end of Trier rent cap

Leibe also spoke about housing in Trier but rejected claims that Luxembourgers priced out of their own market are driving up rents across the border. Pressure comes from a shortage of housing supply, he said.

At €11 per square metre, average net rents in Trier are the second-highest in Rhineland-Palatinate, behind Mainz but ahead of Koblenz and Kaiserslautern.

The German finance ministry announced this week that Trier no longer qualifies for a rent cap, prompting fears of further increases. Leibe criticised the way vacancies were recorded, arguing there was still a shortage of housing. But he downplayed the risk of sudden price hikes: “There are still legal limits on rent increases and a rent index published every five years. Landlords are bound by this. So there will be no explosion.”

(This article has first been published by the Luxemburger Wort. Machine translated, with editing and adaptation by Lucrezia Reale.)