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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with which EU member states the Government has conducted formal negotiations on reducing barriers to cultural touring since January 2021.

The Government has engaged bilaterally with all EU Member States about the importance of touring. From these discussions, 21 out of 27 Member States have confirmed they offer visa and work permit free routes for performers for some short-term touring. More recently, following further discussions, and having sought evidence from industry, Bulgaria and Croatia have also confirmed that they offer visa and work permit free routes for some touring activity. Most of these Member States have confirmed that they offer visa and work permit free routes of at least 30 days, and many for up to 90 days, including important touring markets such as France, Germany and, following close work between our governments and industry, Spain.

Discussions are ongoing with the remaining Member States to encourage them to make touring easier, including through ministerial discussions between the Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure and the Greek Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Greek Ambassador in December 2021.