Bad News for British Musicians

I've posted here before about the (possibly unintended) consequences of Brexit on the British economy. Most of what I've seen is about what's going to happen to the British economy because of the hassles of getting goods into Britain after Brexit. 

But there are problems going the other way, particularly for musicians, artists, dancers, and other creative types.

Here's a Twitter thread about how much more complicated life is going to get for British musicians who want to get gigs in Europe. 

Dear fellow musicians, performers, technicians etc. Here’s a thread about how our lives are going to change re touring/working in the EU in 50 days time. Think of it as a kind of Bad News Advent calendar. Here goes 1/

First things first, you’ll need a passport with at least 6 months left on it. And you’ll need full travel/third party/health insurance, since if you get ill or have an accident every penny of your care will have to be paid for 2/

To work or do a gig you’re going to need a work visa, just like you do for the USA. But here’s the thing. Work permits & visas and the conditions attached are a matter not for the EU but for the member states themselves 3/

Yes, every member state controls who comes in and who doesn’t and what the rules will be for work and residency. It’s almost as if the Brexiters have been lying about this ALL ALONG. EU members CONTROL THEIR OWN BORDERS 4/

So you’ll need to get a work permit for every country you’re intending to work or gig in and the rules are often different, as are the rules on eg taxation of that work (eg Spain has a withholding tax, France does not) 5/

It goes on and it gets worse - what if you are a band travelling with your own equipment or a classical musician travelling with an instrument? The paperwork required is ... insane.

The British government has been making noises about how things will be better for the British fisheries industry. The music and arts industry, in economic terms, is more than an order of magnitude larger than fisheries, and they've made life exponentially more difficult for them.