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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2021 to Question 178768, which Ministers have spoken to which heads of missions in EU countries on reciprocal touring rights for musicians; and whether he plans to report on the progress of bilateral negotiations on that matter.

DCMS is working closely with the FCDO and other departments on our engagement strategy with EU member states regarding touring issues. As part of this, DCMS Ministers are speaking to our Heads of Mission in EU Member States, and as part of the process they will also be speaking to Member States directly in support of FCDO engagement.

As conversations are ongoing, it is not appropriate to share details at this time.

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.