Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on bilateral negotiations with individual EU member states on reciprocal touring rights for musicians.

As the Prime Minister has said, we’re working flat out with our friends in Member States to look at how to make touring in the EU easier.

We are engaging with Member States to improve their guidance around entry and work. DCMS is working closely with the FCDO and other government departments on an engagement strategy with EU Member States. As part of this, DCMS Ministers are speaking to our Heads of Missions in EU countries.

The UK has significantly more generous arrangements for touring professionals than many Member States, and should Member States be willing to change their rules to match ours we will have those discussions and encourage them to do so.

Where there are issues around the clarity of Member States’ immigration rules we will also raise these with the European Commission, and our door is open if the Commission is willing to reconsider our proposals made during negotiations.