UK travel restrictions for touring musicians eased

Travel restrictions for artists and hauliers touring Europe from the UK are set to be eased in the coming months. This will allow touring artists to travel freely between the EU and the UK, able to visit an unlimited number of EU countries. This differs from initial post-Brexit restrictions, which limited artists to three EU stops per tour, amongst other red tape and various visa fees. 

These were heavily protested by artists and industry workers in the UK. More than 200 signed the #LetTheMusicMove campaign in June last year, including Radiohead and Blur. The easing of travel restrictions has been deemed “important progress” by UK Music, an industry group. However, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, the group’s chief executive, told the BBC that issues regarding the transportation of goods and passengers still remained. This is particularly true for smaller, solely UK-based freight companies and independent artists. Haulage and freight companies with branches in the UK as well as other countries will now be subject to new dual registration laws that should ease overall restrictions on their journeys.