EU rules out loosening of post-Brexit restrictions on UK touring musicians

The European Union will not loosen post-Brexit limitations on the UK’s touring musicians that serves a blow to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes for a reset.

Starmer’s government had promised a deal for touring artists as one of its three main ambitions for improving relations with the EU.

Professional musicians have called for a deal that would allow them freedom of movement instead of having to obtain cultural performance visas.

However, the EU has said it would be impossible because it would require rewriting the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, as reported by the Financial Times.

While there is a gulf between the two sides, EU-UK Forum chair Paul Adamson believes European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen could help the British.

“She sees the bigger picture, the geopolitics. She’s anglophile and has intervened before to make compromises to get deals done,” he said.

There are still fears that the touring industry is dying in the UK as a result of Brexit.

Opera singer Rachel Nicholls said she used to do between five and 10 jobs in Europe each year but since leaving the EU work has all but dried up.

“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,” she said, as reported by European Movement UK.

“Since leaving the EU, I’ve had one job there. One.”

Research from the Musicians Union suggests that almost 60 per cent of UK musicians say that they can no longer tour in the EU as it was not financially viable.

European Movement UK’s campaign Face The Music urges the government to address the struggles of musicians and other artists trying to work and tour in the EU.

“The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, cannot get something for nothing in his EU negotiations,” said European Movement UK chair Dr Mike Galsworthy.

“We really need him to be more ambitious on this front and open up conversations about mobility in general, which is what the British public want to see.”