EVIDENCE SESSION: EU Visa Arrangements for Creative Workers
26 June 2021 - Press releaseTuesday 29 June, 14.40
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Lord Frost to face questions on impact of UK-EU trade deal on creative industries
MPs will question Cabinet Office Minister Lord Frost on the Government's failure to reach agreement with the EU on creative workers, leaving them facing practical and financial barriers to working in Europe.
This is a rescheduled session following the cancellation of an earlier appearance by Lord Frost who was the Government's Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union, 2019-2020.
The Committee will focus on what the Government is doing to resolve ongoing problems in absence of a deal that would have enabled visa-free travel to the EU for British creatives. The value of the UK's creative industries sector, a net exporter of services to the EU, is worth £115 billion.
Agent Craig Stanley told the previous session that he had been asked by Elton John to read a statement to the Committee which called on the Government 'sort this mess out' or 'risk losing future generations of world-beating talent'.
Creative sectors impacted by the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement include: touring musicians and performers; crews and road hauliers; fashion industry workers; theatre and technical staff; artists; and major museums with touring exhibitions.
Witness 14.40:
Further information:
Chair Julian Knight had expressed disappointment at Lord Frost's decision to cancel his appearance before MPs earlier this month, a meeting which had been in the diary for several months. The Minister cited commitments at the G7 Summit. Julian Knight delivered a statement ahead of the missed session on the importance of Ministers who sit in the House of Lords appearing before a Select Committee.
Lord Frost had initially refused an invitation in February however the Prime Minister at a meeting of the Liaison Committee in March agreed that Lord Frost was the right person to give evidence to the DCMS Committee.
The Committee has held a number of sessions in its examination of EU visa arrangements for creative workers, launched in January. It took evidence from Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage at an earlier session. She will not reappear at this session.
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