Brexit: More Than Just the Carnets

BREXIT: MORE THAN JUST THE CARNETS

With the implications of Brexit as uncertain as ever, the PSA’s Andy Lenthall attempts to find some clarity amid the confusion.

As part of the UK’s Brexit readiness activities, we thought it best to stick to circulating advice issued by HM Government, given the pace of change. We were offered the opportunity to apply for funding to hold events, build web pages or issue printed advice more specific to us, however, like many others, we politely declined the opportunity as the liabilities arising from that information becoming out of date were too great. One distinct benefit of the Prime Minister’s determination to leave with or without a withdrawal agreement in place was that we could actually talk openly about what a no-deal Brexit meant for all business sectors – about the level of bureaucracy for individual businesses once we’ve left behind the unseen bureaucracy of the EU. Of course, we’d discussed it before, but while our previous PM was getting a deal done, no-deal planning was shrouded in secrecy and NDAs. This time, we were all ears. You may have visited the government’s dedicated Brexit website. It’s mighty impressive and it helps you filter through the unnecessary and leave just the important information to get your business ready. Nobody reading

this column really needs to know about exporting fish in the event of a nodeal, save perhaps the former Marillion front man’s management planning his 2020 Weltschmerz tour. If you’d gone a step further and subscribed to the Brexit readiness email service, you’d have been warned before hitting the subscribe button that you could be getting 40 to 60 emails per day; boy, those fertiliser exporters will have a tonne of crap to wade through. During our journey into the rabbit hole, we had a list of questions relating to Brexit preparedness sent from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). We didn’t feel equipped to answer those questions on behalf of our members, so we set about polling opinion with a short survey. We’d soon gathered 400 responses. The results were shared with the DCMS as well as our members, and they weren’t exactly encouraging in terms of readiness and impacts already felt. Perhaps they were the catalyst for the release of more specific guidance on touring issued a few days after we shared our results. Of course, we passed that out to members as soon as we got it. That

document was swiftly followed by a couple of dozen separate emails relating to the provision of services in each separate member state after a no-deal Brexit. This highlighted a bit of an issue. Al l the guidance issued so far relates to arrangements that the UK have made or to actions that cover the whole EU. Take carnets for example: you might need one, you get one, it covers you throughout the EU. What we don’t have any guidance on are arrangements that differ in each member state, such as working visas or exemptions for performers/crew and the payment of National Insurance contributions. Th is is entirely different to the arrangement that UK citizens will be able to travel freely in the Schengen area for 90 days in any 180 (keep a record, holidays might affect the time you can spend on a tour). The advice says that you may need a visa to work in a member state and you may need to pay National Insurance contributions. The issue is that each member state has its own legislative and enforcement arrangements. It’s very difficult to know what the arrangements will be for UK citizens. The only advice we’ve received from both lawyers and the DCMS is to look at arrangements from the point of view of an American artist or crew, and you might be on the right track. Most helpful. Of c ourse, we’ve asked some Americans and, on the face of it, it seems OK. We can’t go into detail – that could be taken as advice, and nobody is in a position to offer that. As far as taxation and National Insurance contributions go, we’re once again at the mercy of varying approaches between member states. That said, we hear that the US has an arrangement with the EU that treats performers as EU citizens – this is perhaps something that we can hope for as part of a deal (not the withdrawal agreement, but the trade deal that follows our withdrawal). Th at’s movement of people kind of covered; monitor your 90 days in 180, the local ‘employer’ should sort out visa permission, social security will get sorted in ‘the deal’, oh, and make sure your travel insurance covers

full medical without the EHIC cover in place. What we haven’t touched on here are arrangements for EU citizens residing in the UK – that’s been well covered elsewhere under Leave to Remain arrangements. Mo vement of goods shouldn’t really be an issue as the specialist transport companies and freight forwarders are there for advice and solutions. More of an issue is the need to pay VAT and import duty on merchandise – a payment that will be taken up front. That will most likely be OK for a well-resourced act, but not so useful further down the market, where merch sales could be make or break. Take merch and you have to find a chunk of cash up front, don’t take it and you lose a revenue stream. Be ing positive is going to be key, as a wise PSA Council member said at a meeting several months ago: “It will be OK, because it has to be OK”. There’s always the good old show-must-go-on attitude and that will get many through. Our concern should perhaps turn to mitigating any longterm effects. UK suppliers have indicated that they are already losing work and revenue to EU-based competitors; who knows if that work will return when the dust settles? We’re always talking about the grass roots, whether it’s the future client base, the new bands just starting out that become as big as today’s stadium acts, or the next generation of techs to build and operate the shows. It a ll boils down to a checklist. We think we know all the questions, we’re still working on a few answers but we probably now know what we’ll need to know. For a sector that has grown utilising freedom of movement around our closest market, any additional friction, admin or cost is going to be of concern. For some it will be a necessary burden, but our main concern should be for those for whom it’s a deal breaker – a cost too far. *please note, nothing in this article constitutes advice. Even during writing, things changed. TPi www.psa.org.uk

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