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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve UK-EU cultural cooperation, particularly for UK based musicians wanting to perform in European destinations.

As noted in the Common Understanding from the inaugural UK-EU Summit in May last year, the UK and EU are committed to cultural and artistic exchange, including through the activities of touring artists. This is a priority, as set out in the Government’s manifesto.

We continue to engage with the EU institutions and Member States, as well as music and arts industry stakeholders, to determine how to improve arrangements for artists who wish to perform across the European continent and to make the case for easements.

For instance, on 24 March, I co-chaired the first UK-European Commission High-Level Meeting on Culture with Commissioner Micallef (Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport) to support UK-EU cultural cooperation. I also attended an industry panel session at the European Parliament, hosted by MEPs Hannes Heide and Bogdan Zdrojewski in collaboration with the Cultural Exchange Coalition, focused on strengthening UK-EU cultural exchange, including removing barriers to cross-border touring.

We remain committed to securing improvements for our creative and cultural sectors and continuing to work closely with industry to ensure that these issues are clearly evidenced and understood.