Comment of the day: UK is to blame for Europe visa charges

From ensemble leader and Slippedisc commenter Robert King:

Ironically, it was the EU that offered a deal for musicians to have such a waiver, and it was the UK that refused it. Here is – verbatim – a message from Michel Barnier’s office sent to a colleague of mine on 24 March 2021 year which clarifies the EU position:

“The European Union submitted on 18 March 2020 a proposal to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) for a draft Agreement.

“This proposed agreement is accessible here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/draft-text-agreement-new-partnership-united-kingdom_en
I draw your attention to pages 171 and seq. (Articles MOBI.1 and seq.) and page 354 (Annex MOBI-1) of that proposed agreement. Under those articles, the European Union proposed commitments on visa-free short stays and a specific declaration (cf. Annex) excluding performing artists from the requirement to have a visa.

“The United Kingdom refused to include a commitment on visa-free short stays in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Such types of commitments in the European Union’s international agreements are usually accompanied by a Joint Declaration explicitly excluding certain categories (for example, sportspersons, artists and journalists) from the requirement to have a visa. As a result, it is now up to each Member State to determine if a visa is required for short-stay visits for the purpose of carrying out a paid activity. This is fully in line with European Union law (cf. Art. 6(3) of Regulation 2018/1806). A “paid activity” normally means carrying out a gainful occupation or remunerated activity as an employee or as a service provider.

“Since the United Kingdom has chosen to no longer allow the free movement of European Union citizens to the United Kingdom and since it also refused to include a chapter on mobility in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, these choices inevitably mean that travel between the European Union and the United Kingdom – including for business purposes – will no longer be as easy as it was while the United Kingdom was a Member State”.

And there, according to the EU, is the offer that the EU made, and the position that the UK took.