British musicians hope that PM will promote their case in Europe

As Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Brussels to meet with Ursula von der Leyen on October 2, one sector of British industry was desperate that he includes them in the UK-EU reset.

Sir Elton John highlighted problems for musicians after Brexit in 2021

As early as 2021, various prominent British musicians including Sir Elton John lambasted the then Conservative Government about the difficulty that younger musicians face in playing within the European Union.

Considering that Britain gave Europe some of the most innovative musicians from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Adele, Ed Sheeran and hundreds more, the music industry has earned billions of pounds for the country.

If you are a top musician, then you can afford to pay someone to undertake all of the paperwork which will allow you and your crew to temporarily import equipment and people with little reduction in earnings.

For smaller bands and individuals, it becomes an expensive bureaucratic nightmare and whereas in the past, musicians learnt their trade by touring, this is one door that has closed on them.

Supporting musicians return to Europe part of Labour manifesto

In theory 17 member states of the EU allow UK musicians access to their countries, but the paperwork is still onerous and it was part of the Labour election manifesto to try to resolve the problem.

There are plenty of other much more contentious matters to discuss in Brussels but this is one that could perhaps be an easy problem to resolve whilst opening the door to other matters of import.

Thank EU for the Music is a pro-European group that campaigns for a better deal for touring musicians impacted by Brexit and many of its members formed part of the National Rejoin March at the end of September dressed as elephants.

No work in Europe is ‘Elephant in the Room’

According to the group, the problem of musicians working in Europe has been ‘the elephant in the room’ since Brexit was finalised and according to research by the Musicians’ Union and the Independent Society of Musicians, the number of European shows performed by UK artists had dropped by more than 70 per cent when compared to pre Brexit, although in fairness they also had to cope with the pandemic and lockdown.

So, alongside special travel concessions for young students and a general wish to build bridges with the European Union, perhaps this will have been an easy icebreaker and a test of the EU’s willingness to compromise as well.