The Government’s failure to agree travel rights for UK artists post-Brexit has led to calls from the Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU), of which WGGB is part, to address this issue urgently.

In a joint statement, the unions said that they were: “Deeply disturbed to hear that proposals made during the Brexit negotiations which would have offered special travel rights for musicians, journalists and artists, were turned down, with both sides seemingly proposing solutions that were rejected by the other negotiating team.”

The statement went on to say that the creative industries are one of the fast-growing parts of the economy, worth more than £111bn to the UK, that arts and media “do not exist within borders” and the failure of the Government and the EU to come to an agreement on this matter “will severely hamper the ability of creatives to continue to carry out business and collaboration with EU states.”

The creative industries have been devastated by the pandemic and the failure to agree a deal that would have played an important role in revitalising the arts is a major blow, the unions concluded.

As it stands, touring in EU states for UK artists will require costly administration and time-consuming bureaucracy.

The FEU understands that the door is still open on the EU-side for a deal and calls on Government to review this arrangement (see the full statement below).

The statement was published on the same day (Tuesday 19 January 2021) that an Urgent Question was raised in Parliament on the issue.

Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage MP took questions from a number of MPs, many of whom asked to see published evidence that a deal for touring musicians and artists was rejected by the EU, and requested that the Government reopen negotiations on this issue.

Dinenage said that she would talk to the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) about publishing the detail and that she would continue to engage with the sector.

WGGB is supporting the call for a Europe-wide visa-free work permit for touring professionals and artists. If you haven’t already done so, you can sign the petition here.

FEU statement in full

The Federation of Entertainment Unions is deeply disturbed to hear that proposals made during the Brexit negotiations which would have offered special travel rights for musicians, journalists and artists, were turned down, with both sides seemingly proposing solutions that were rejected by the other negotiating team.

The creative industries are one of the fast-growing parts of the economy worth more than £111bn to the UK. The arts and media do not exist within borders and the failure of the government and the EU to come to an agreement on this matter will severely hamper the ability of creatives to continue to carry out business and collaboration with EU states.

The creative industries have been devastated by the pandemic and the failure to agree a deal that would have played an important role in revitalising the arts is a major blow. As it stands, touring in EU states for UK artists will require costly administration and time-consuming bureaucracy. Likewise, media organisations need to be fleet when following news and investigative stories and not bogged down with the need for visas and other bureaucracy.

The FEU asks the UK government to review this arrangement – signs from Michel Barnier appear to suggest the door is still open.

The FEU is also calling for the government to reverse its decision to scrap its £12m funding of England’s Union Learning Fund which supports more 200,000 learners in workplaces across England and importantly offers one of the very few opportunities for freelances to have access to free training, professional development and acquire business skills.

The Federation of Entertainment Unions represents more than 100,000 writers, journalists, musicians and actors.

Photo: Shutterstock.com/Ivan Mar