Touring in Europe post Brexit
Hi there
As some of you will know European bookings are returning and in some cases at very short notice. If any of you have bookings within the next two months (and some of you do) in Europe then we advise getting busy now. There are several things that all of you will have to do to be able to tour in Europe, so we suggest that the rest of you also do this.
This is not legal advice and is our own research, so I suggest checking things in your own time. If you spot anything that I have wrong then let me know!
Passport: Your passport needs to have at least 6 months left on it. Check your passports and renew if you need to.
Visas or work permits: Artists and crew are now facing the challenge of navigating multiple systems when touring Europe. According to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport 21 member states allow “some form” of musical touring without a work permit or visa. These are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Sweden.
However the actual amount of visa free touring differs per country and is often far below 90 in 180 days.
Individual countries may also have additional restrictions, such as France requiring musicians to be employed by a registered venue.
There remains uncertainty and possibly a need for bilateral deals with six other member states in relation to work permits for musicians and performers for any commercial music performance or artists and crew face costly and time-consuming visa and work permit applications.
These are Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Malta and Cyprus.
The 90 day rule works on a rolling 180 days, its complicated, so the best way to work out your eligibility for this is to use the Shengen Visa calculator
EORI number: In order to move goods, so cd’s etc across Europe you will need an EORI number. It takes 4 days to get, but can take longer. If you are vat registered then you should have automatically been sent one, but check, because you need it. For those of you who are not vat registered you can apply here(https://www.gov.uk/eori )
Carnet: You need this to be able to transport your instruments out of and back into the country. Be aware that the information needed can include serial numbers of equipment, so its not a short process to complete the application. Also you may have to pay a deposit for the equipment, so don’t declare things like very expensive fiddles as you can take personal instruments with you and these do not have to be declared on your carnet. More information is here. There is a specialist in the UK who is dealing with carnets for you. His name is Rog Patterson and his email is rog@tourbloke.com. Tell him that we gave you his contact details. He does charge, but you might decide its worth it and its not a lot of cash. The Musicians’ Union have also negotiated discounted rates with two carnet suppliers for members as detailed here A carnet lasts for one year. More info is here Please note although it says you can avoid charges with a duplicate list, we would not advise this route and suggest forking out for the carnet. Be aware that once you have a carnet you cant change this without securing a new one, so list absolutely everything that you might be likely to take. You can take less for one journey but not more.
Customs declaration: If you are taking merchandising with you to sell you also need to do a customs declaration. If this is for goods valued under £1500 and under 1000kg then you can do this online, if not then you will need to make a full customs declaration. You can only do this 5 days before you travel - so don’t forget. See here.
European Driving licence: You don’t need this for most countries, but you have to carry a copy of your driving licence with you at all times. If you are taking your own vehicle you will also need a green card which you can get from your insurance company. You will also need a GB sticker. More here. Also you need to make sure that if you are travelling by van that the vehicle is under a certain weight to offset the cabotage regulations, so if any of you plan on doing this. Let us know and we can advise.
Health insurance: Before you travel, make sure you have a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), or travel insurance with health cover You may not have access to free emergency medical treatment and could be charged for your healthcare if you do not have an EHIC or GHIC when visiting an EU country, or travel insurance when visiting Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.If you have an EHIC it will still be valid while it remains in date. To apply link here