Witnesses to that inquiry described trying to navigate a “complicated landscape of administrative, financial, and perceptual obstacles”, which one likened to “a cultural iron curtain”, and “how these new barriers have led to lost opportunities, reduced activity, increased costs and lost income".https://senedd.wales/media/mymnfoxa/cr-ld16778-seasneg.pdf
The findings of the Senedd report included—
We call on the Welsh Government to support the recommendation made by the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in December 2023Final Recommendation - 4th EU_UK PPA.pdf and to use all available levers to encourage the UK and EU to progress its actions;ix“Urges the Partnership Council to prioritise the mobility of touring artists, with a view to developing a comprehensive approach that would allow artists and their teams to tour freely in the EU and UK - potentially as part of the forthcoming Trade and Cooperation Agreement Review - whilst recognising that this would form part of a broader political discussion encompassing a wide range of other issues;Calls on the Partnership Council to work towards an agreement on streamlining visa, customsand work arrangements for touring artists and their teams; andCalls for a redoubling of the efforts between the UK Government and the EU Member States to tackle artists’ concerns referred to above; for EU Schengen Member States to expand their offer for visa and work permit-free visits for touring artists and their teams up to the Schengen limit of 90 days in a period of 180, and to provide clear and comprehensive guidance online...