UK seeks to ease touring barriers for British musicians in EU reset
The UK government has renewed its focus on removing post-Brexit obstacles for British musicians touring the European Union, as London and Brussels pursue a broader reset of their relationship. A new music strategy, titled “Turn It Up: Our Plan for Music,” explicitly commits to continued work on reducing barriers for artists touring the EU. The document references the first high-level UK-EU culture meeting, which took place in March, as a platform for progress.
The economic toll of current restrictions is substantial. A UK government study found that extra EU touring barriers between 2022 and 2024 cost Britain £208 million in lost economic output, equivalent to 2,490 full-time jobs. A Musicians’ Union survey revealed that 75 percent of musicians who previously worked in the EU reported fewer bookings, and 72 percent reported lower EU income. More than half said EU touring was no longer financially viable.
Cultural dialogue and youth mobility
The 2025 UK-EU summit saw both sides recognise “the value of travel and cultural and artistic exchanges, including the activities of touring artists.” A new high-level cultural dialogue provides a forum to turn that promise into policy. London is also preparing to rejoin the Erasmus+ programme in 2027, though the UK’s Turing Scheme has supported outward mobility without reproducing Erasmus+ reciprocal structure.
The European Commission’s original Youth Experience Scheme proposal outlined a time-limited route for people aged 18 to 30 to live on the other side of the English Channel. The text calls for paid cultural work to be clearly accommodated in any such agreement. This could help address the sharp decline in EU students entering UK higher education, from 66,685 in 2020–21 to 28,375 in 2023–24, a drop of around 57 percent based on HESA data.
Historical echoes and European cooperation
Cross-border cultural mobility has deep roots. In the early 19th century, theatre companies crossed linguistic and political borders, and imperial Russia hosted French and German theatrical companies alongside Russian performers. Italian opera was embedded in Russian musical life, while Irish pianist John Field, trained in London, spent most of his adult career in the Russian Empire. German pianist Adolf Henselt settled there and became deeply involved in Russian musical education.
Contemporary EU programmes continue this tradition. Creative Europe has a budget of €2.44 billion for 2021–27, and its Pan-European Cultural Entities programme supports cross-border orchestras developing young musicians. Around €11 million was allocated to five projects in 2024, expected to involve more than 1,000 young musicians from at least 20 participating countries. The new cultural dialogue offers a chance to reconnect British artists with these networks.
