UK artists granted visa-free short-term touring in 19 EU member states

The government announced that they have negotiated visa-free touring for artists across 19 member states, meaning UK musicians and performers do not need visas or work permits for short-term tours. 

The 19 EU states include; Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden.

The government stated, “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.”

This comes after months of campaigning by prominent musicians, including Sir Elton John who had said, “there is a small window of opportunity to get this right, there must be solutions, short and long term, or we risk losing future generations of world beating talent.” 

The government has made formal approaches and negotiations are still ongoing with Spain, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, and Cyprus. Currently, artists from all member states can come to the UK for up to three months without work permits and visas, and the government is hoping all member states will align their rules with UK’s rules. Paul Fleming, general secretary of Equity, a creative arts union has said that this was “overdue but a welcome first step.” 

To access the official news story by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/visa-free-short-term-touring-allowed-in-19-member-states