British government says no to musicians’ permits

During a parliamentary session on Tuesday, Caroline Dennage, head of culture and digitalization in the government, said that the door to negotiations with the European Union remained open, but that the solution would not be an exception, but rather a facilitation of the tours of British artists. From Europe.

The European Union previously said it had proposed an agreement that British musicians could travel without visas within member states for 90 days over a period of 180 days, but the UK rejected the offer. For its part, Britain says it wants a more ambitious agreement, but the EU does not want to agree to it. Something the European Union denies.

Music pass says

The Musicians’ Guild would like to have a special type of musicians’ passport that covers musicians and their employees. The idea of ​​this passport is to exempt its holders from the need for additional permits and facilitate trips within the European Union. But that’s not something the government wants to invest in, despite what I said before.

Musicians Union Deputy Secretary-General, Naomi Ball, told The Guardian:

– It seems unlikely that the passport of the musician we pressed will be fulfilled at this point, but we remain keen to work with the British Government on a supplementary agreement that can work for the benefit of our members, staff and the organizations they work with.

An open letter to the government

The new rules for the tours were met with heavy criticism. Name groups were signed, and yesterday more than a hundred prominent artists, including Sting, Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Joss Stone, wrote an open letter accusing the British government of having “shamefully failed” to protect the musicians’ interests.

It’s uncertain what awaits when it becomes tour-related once again. The costs and paperwork for bringing in equipment and goods to be sold during the tour, as well as for driving in and out through the various member states, remains to be seen.