Musicians from the United Kingdom will be able to tour visa-free in 19 European Union nations
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After fears that artists may face exorbitant fees as a result of Brexit, the UK government says it is in negotiations with other nations.
The government has announced that musicians and entertainers from the United Kingdom will be permitted to tour in a number of European nations without requiring a visa or work permit. Regulations that went into effect at the start of the year do not ensure visa-free travel for musicians in the EU, raising concerns that touring artists will be charged high costs in many of the countries they visit.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) said that it had reached an agreement with 19 EU member states to allow British musicians and performers to do short tours. visa-free. These countries are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden.
The government said it was in talks with the rest of the EU, including Spain, Portugal, and Greece, to match their visa policies with the UK’s, which allows touring performers and support personnel to visit for up to three months without a visa.
“We want the UK’s brilliant performers and other creative workers to be able to tour abroad easily,” the DCMS stated in a statement. We recognize that difficulties persist in the touring industry, and we will continue to work closely with the industry to address them. “We want to ensure that when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, touring can resume and our world-leading creative and cultural artists can continue to travel widely, learning their craft, growing their audiences, and showing the best of British creativity to the world.”
It follows months of advocacy by musicians such as Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran on the problem of post-Brexit touring, with John earlier saying that the rules threatened “a generation of talent.”
Story By: Norvisi Eyiram
