Organisations from Across UK and Europe Join Forces to Remove Barriers to Touring and Drive Growth

A wide coalition of creative and cultural organisations has come together to launch a major new alliance, the Cultural Exchange Coalition (CEC).

CEC members include: the European Music Exporters Exchange (EMEE), the European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA), the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM), Live Music Industry, Venues and Entertainment (LIVE), the Musicians’ Union, Pearle*, UK Music, the Society of London Theatre (SOLT), UK Theatre, One Dance, and the Contemporary Visual Arts Network (CVAN).

Among those backing the new coalition are Dame Evelyn Glennie, Jools Holland OBE and Level 42 bassist Mark King. 

The CEC also includes more than 50 EU businesses from across the creative industries. For a full list of members please see the CEC website.

Arrangements put in place following the UK’s exit from the EU are not working

The new initiative comes amid mounting concerns about the impact that barriers facing creative organisations and performers touring Europe and the UK are having on culture, employment and growth.

Arrangements put in place following the UK’s exit from the EU are not working. They are failing artists, audiences and venues, as well as harming growth, damaging revenues and undermining the vital influence of cultural exchange.

The Cultural Exchange Coalition summarised its aims in a new mission statement:

“The Cultural Exchange Coalition brings together creative and cultural organisations from across the United Kingdom and European Union with a shared ambition to transform the inaugural UK-EU Summit’s Common Understanding commitment to support cultural exchange into meaningful actions – strengthening creative collaboration, removing barriers and driving shared growth.”

The coalition was created in response to the UK-EU Summit 2025

The CEC is a coalition of people and organisations from across the UK and EU who create, support and sustain culture and creativity. It was created in response to the UK-EU Summit 2025 to support and promote the huge shared benefits of cross-border cultural collaboration.

The Common Understanding agreed in 2025 by the UK and the EU sets out a joint commitment to support cultural exchange.

The CEC is now calling on political leaders to deliver on this commitment and negotiate to remove the barriers hampering the cultural exchange which is vital to our creative communities, our economies and our citizens. 

MU presence on the CEC

Dave Webster, MU Head of International, Chair LIVE Touring UK and co-chair Cultural Exchange Coalition, said:

“I am honoured to be the UK Co-chair of the Cultural Exchange Coalition. It’s an important step forward in addressing the barriers to touring faced by the creative industries. The UK/EU Summit 2025 provided a foundation on which to build stronger commitments between the UK and the EU.

“Since we left the EU, cultural exchange has been hamstrung by increased costs, increased time and bureaucracy. The aim of the CEC is to champion the cultural and economic benefits of cultural exchange, reduce the barriers and ensure touring artists and the wider performing and visual arts community can fully deliver their creative excellence.”