European arts organisations plea for creatives’ right to be protected following Brexit

Major European arts organisations including the International Federation of Actors have issued a joint statement calling on Brexit negotiators to protect the rights of creative industries workers.

The statement expresses “grave concern” over the potential threat of Brexit to the audiovisual industry – which includes theatre, film and TV, across the EU and UK.

Signatories have urged negotiators on both sides to ensure creative industries workers are allowed to continue to work in the EU and UK “with minimum administrative burdens”, warning that performers “risk serious damage to their careers” without freedom of movement.

Other demands in the statement include for the UK to ensure workers have the same employment rights, such as holiday, as they did under EU regulations, and for existing co-production agreements in film to be protected.

As well as the International Federation of Actors, which represents performer’s unions and guilds including Equity, other signatories include the International Federation of Musicians and the European Coordination of Independent Producers.

The statement said: “The signatories in the audiovisual sector urge careful consideration of these sectoral needs in the course of negotiation to secure the most efficient conditions to promote quality and sustainability of audiovisual production across the UK/EU in the future.

“They are pre-requisite for securing both revenues for the entire film and audiovisual ecosystem as well as authors’, performers’ and other creative workers’ agility in their careers.”

The statement follows a warning from Equity, UK Theatre and Society of London Theatre and other organisations that Brexit will “strangle” the supply of creative talent coming to the UK and create a “bureaucratic nightmare for touring shows”.