British stars in new protest over the consequences of Brexit – Kulturnytt in P1

There is impressive weight in the letter of protest that is now being sent to the British government.

Elton John, Sting, Ed Sheeran, world maestro Simon Rattle, other members of the Queen, violinist Nicola Benedetti and representatives of British opera houses with several big names are now protesting the lack of freedom of movement to perform in the European Union countries for British artists. After Brexit.

As Kulturnytt reported a little over a week ago, there is nothing in the agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union that regulates the possibility of British artists continuing to tour or perform in the European Union without the need to apply for a visa, work permit, or the like.

Instead, an artist who wants, for example, to take a European tour when cultural life begins again after the Covid pandemic, must apply for a permit for each EU country to which the tour takes them. The rules look different in different European Union countries, in some countries a visa is not required, but in many other countries there are requirements that make tours difficult and expensive, as the artists claim.

The European Union and the United Kingdom blame each other for what happened, and the European Union says it has offered the UK 90 days of freedom of entry that will apply throughout the European Union after Brexit, something the UK has rejected. The UK believes it instead has a much better proposal that would better benefit both parties’ artists, one that the European Union rejected, according to the British government.

But the British elite artists are most alarmed by their government and are now demanding to do something about the situation and negotiate a solution that provides freedom of movement in both directions, for British artists in the European Union and for artists from EU countries who wish to. Perform in the UK.

Daniel Alling
[email protected]