ETIA joins Cultural Exchange Coalition (CEC)  

At the end of March, ETIA members decided to join the Cultural Exchange Coalition which brings together over 150 organisations from across the cultural and creative sectors with the shared ambition to transform the UK-EU relationships and secure better terms for touring artists, technical crews and cultural organisations.  

For the cultural and creative sectors, the agreements reached following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU are inadequate and fail to meet their needs. They hinder growth, result in financial losses, and undermine the influence of cultural exchange to the benefit of our societies. 

In their policy asks, the CEC therefore calls for finding bespoke solutions to support touring artists, technical crews and organisations and addresses topics such as the ATA carnets, cabotage rules and withholding tax issues. 

Inaugural event in Brussels 

On 26 March, at an event organised at the European Parliament in Brussels, the Cultural Exchange Coalition drew attention to remaining barriers for the sector and the need to strengthen creative collaboration.  

The event was hosted by Hannes Heide (S&D) and Bogdan Zdrojewski (EPP) and brought together a wide range of cultural organisations from the UK and the EU. The European Commission and the UK Minister for Creative Industries also joined the event. 

At a panel discussion moderated by the co-chair of the CEC, Pearle* Director Anita Debaere, participants highlighted the positive impact of cultural exchange after Brexit and their observation that touring activities went down during the last years due to remaining administrative barriers.   

ETIA supports the CEC network to work on solutions and new opportunities for exchange for cultural organisations, as well as for artists and technical crews travelling between the UK and the EU.  

 
More information on the CEC can be found here: https://culturecoalition.net/