EU rules out loosening post-Brexit curbs on UK touring musicians

Brussels will not loosen post-Brexit curbs on UK touring musicians, according to internal EU briefing documents that deal an early blow to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes for a reset.

The Labour government has promised to seek a deal on touring artists as one of its three main ambitions for improving relations with the EU, along with improved access to the EU for UK professionals and reduced border checks on food and drink exports.

Professional musicians have long called for a deal to cut post-Brexit red tape that requires them to obtain cultural performance visas and transport permits for their equipment, adding cost and complexity to securing gigs in the EU.

But Brussels has said that such a deal is impossible because it would require rewriting the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), according to internal briefing documents seen by the Financial Times.

The necessary changes to rules on customs, road haulage and services were something the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, was “not prepared to consider”, the briefing said.

The documents noted that Labour’s ambition for a deal to allow UK professionals to work in the EU was “not straightforward”. They also set out tough terms for a “veterinary deal” and voiced scepticism that a bilateral security pact could lead to better access for the UK to EU defence procurement funds.

They warned that some form of youth mobility deal allowing 18- to 30-year-olds to work and travel would be an “indispensable element” of any new pact with the UK. Starmer last week said “we do not have plans” for such a scheme but did not rule out signing an agreement in future.

The two documents setting out the EU’s red lines for a future negotiation on EU-UK relations reveal the gulf between the two sides, despite them pledging this summer to work together to improve relations.

The briefings repeatedly warn of the need to “manage expectations” in London, given Starmer’s refusal to rejoin the EU single market, accept freedom of movement, or form a customs union with the bloc.

People familiar with the matter said both sides were setting out tough opening stances ahead of formal negotiations. Those can begin only after a new commission is appointed later this year, with a senior official saying it was open to compromise. 

“We have a track record of finding solutions,” the person said.

But the documents reflect disappointment in Brussels at the lack of ambition from London despite Labour’s landslide election victory.

Paul Adamson, chair of the EU-UK Forum that brings together policymakers, said the British government would need to change its position in some areas or risk squandering goodwill in Brussels. 

However, he noted that the Commission’s defensiveness was not necessarily shared by its president Ursula von der Leyen. “She sees the bigger picture, the geopolitics. She’s anglophile and has intervened before to make compromises to get deals done,” he said.

The continued block on reducing bureaucratic barriers facing touring musicians comes after similar overtures from the previous Conservative government were rejected by Brussels on the same grounds in March. 

Starmer has pledged to deepen ties with the EU via a new security partnership with Brussels but also leading member states, including Germany and France. 

But a briefing to EU diplomats warned against UK moves to use a security pact as a backdoor for the UK to gain improved access to EU markets, including for British defence companies wanting to participate in EU procurement.

Any attempt by the UK to gain additional EU market access under the guise of economic and security co-operation would upset the “delicate balance of rights and obligations” already agreed in the TCA, it added.

EU rules limit the ability of non-EU companies to participate in schemes such as the €8bn European Defence Fund. One of the briefing documents warned that EU member states would be unlikely to change these rules.

Alongside a deal on musicians, Labour’s election manifesto targeted a “veterinary agreement” to reduce border checks on food and plant exports, and an accord to allow professionals to use their qualifications in each others’ countries.

The briefings noted that while the TCA has clauses that allow such deals, both would come with conditions.

While the Commission was open to signing a veterinary deal, London must agree to automatically follow EU rules — so-called dynamic alignment — and accept a role for the European Court of Justice, the briefing said. It added the UK had been “vague” on whether it could accept such conditions.

On mutually recognising professional qualifications — which Reeves said before the election would be key to lowering trade barriers — the briefing warned such arrangements were “not always straightforward”.

It noted a deal with the previous Conservative government on architects fell through because the UK requested that EU architects should pass a test to practise in the UK — a condition Brussels deemed unacceptable. 

The Cabinet Office said the government had had “very positive engagement” with the EU since the election, but reiterated that the UK “won’t rejoin the single market, customs union or reintroduce freedom of movement”.

The Commission said it was “committed to strengthening relations between the EU and the UK”.

“The EU, like the UK, will pursue its interests, bearing in mind the political interest in close co-operation between the UK and the EU on major global challenges including on support for Ukraine, climate change and regional security,” it added.