UK and EU ministers met in Brussels this week to discuss the damage done to UK touring artists after Brexit. They were joined by representatives from the UK creative sector, including UK Music and The Musicians’ Union, at the inaugural Culture Exchange Coalition event.
Ian Murray, UK minister for media, tourism and creative industries, said, “there is the political will on the UK side to solve the problems now facing the creative sectors”.
EU Commissioner for Culture, Creativity and Sport, Georg Haeusler said the issues were “fairly simple”, that “music and art was never considered in the Brexit negotiations”, and that all of this is “possible to solve”.
Difficulties of working in the EU since Brexit
Musicians and artists from the UK have struggled to work in the EU since Brexit. Extra red-tape including visas, expensive paperwork for equipment and the 90-in180-days rule has made touring unviable for many.
Rachel Nicholls is one of the UK’s leading opera singers. Before the UK left the EU, she would do five to ten jobs in Europe every year. But visa requirements for non-EU performers mean she is unable to take short-notice stand-in jobs in the EU, which form a major part of the working year for many artists.
Rachel told European Movement UK:
“Since leaving the EU, I’ve had one job there. One. Our industry is slowly dying. And I don’t know what to do. I think we’re now out of the equation in terms of working in Europe and, although I’m freelance and British, up until Brexit I was working more in Europe than I was here.”
You can hear Rachel tell her story – alongside others affected in the industry – here. Research by the Musicians’ Union suggests almost 60% of UK musicians now say they can’t tour in the EU.
The European Movement campaign, Face The Music, urges the government to address the plight of musicians and other artists trying to work and tour in the EU.
Dr Mike Galsworthy, Chair of European Movement UK, said:
“Musicians really need the government to be more ambitious and open up conversations about mobility in general, and the ability to tour the EU for our performers, producers and backstage staff in particular.
“Remember, it’s not just musicians, it’s theatre groups, fashion photographers, dancers, comedians and British culture in all of its wonderful dimensions. Brexit has boxed them in and it’s time to tear down those restrictions. Every day that we don’t, we damage one of the few areas in which we are still globally significant”
European Movement UK
- European Movement UK was established by Sir Winston Churchill in 1949, to promote closer ties between the UK and European nations.
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