Europe's top cultural organisations pressure UK government to support them in Brexit negotiations

Amy Frearson | 6 July 2017 4 comments

The Barbican, the V&A and the British Museum are among over 500 leading arts organisations and individuals that have urged the UK government to support cultural exchange programmes and free movement of workers after Brexit.

In a statement titled Our Shared European Future, institutions and individuals from art, design, culture and science – as diverse as architect David Chipperfield and scientist Brian Cox – have identified six issues that they want UK politicians to consider when negotiating the nation's exit from the European Union.

They call for government to ensure post-Brexit residency for EU nationals  currently working in the UK, allow skilled workers to freely move between countries, and to support training and education for young people in the cultural sector.

They also demand continued support for EU-funded programmes like the popular Erasmus exchanges, cooperation with the EU on intellectual property issues and regulation, and an ongoing dialogue with representatives from Europe's education, culture and science sectors.

Organised by the British Council, the campaign is also supported by Tate, the Royal College of Art, Turner Contemporary, the National Portrait Gallery and the Jerwood Gallery.

Other backers include major European major institutions, like the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto, Portugal, the National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic, the University of Vienna and the Danish Culture Institute.

"Our vision is for continued European collaboration, helping the continent to lead the world in the fields of education, culture, science, research and innovation," reads the statement.

"We envisage a European open zone for intellectual and creative endeavour, where educational, cultural and scientific institutions are key economic players, supporting cities, encouraging social mobility, stimulating healthy issue-based debates, benefiting communities, solving global challenges, improving intercultural awareness, fostering creativity, enhancing social cohesion and transforming lives," it continues.

"Students, artists, academics, scientists, teachers, researchers and young people travel, operate, collaborate and innovate easily across borders, supported through funding and resources, opportunities and international exchanges. Society as a whole prospers across Europe as a direct result of this growth in talent, expertise and shared values."

The six demands are listed below:

Recommendations to EU and UK leaders

1. Residency rights: EU and UK leaders are urged to guarantee post-Brexit residency for EU nationals
currently operating in the UK, and British nationals working in other EU countries.

2. Ease of movement: The education, culture and science sectors are by nature international and mobile. Their success, and the success of many other sectors, depends significantly on the ease of movement of its people and assets. The economies of European countries and society as a whole currently benefit extensively from the sectors' flow of ideas, creativity and talent. For example, the UK's higher education sector relies heavily on 31,000 non-British EU workers who currently contribute to its success. We therefore advise EU and UK leaders to:

a. Negotiate a post-Brexit agreement for the education, culture, science and research sectors that does not inhibit their vital ease of movement, but rather, seeks to enhance and facilitate it.

b. If absolutely necessary, introduce measures, such as "cultural and educational permits", that enable people and assets operating in the education, culture, science and research sectors to continue moving with ease between the UK and other EU countries. These measures should be low-cost, rapid-to-process and applied for adequate periods, to encourage continued collaboration and partnership.

3. Continued and enhanced participation in multilateral programmes: The monetary and non- monetary benefits to European societies and economies emanating from EU-funded programmes, such as Erasmus+, Horizon 2020, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and Creative Europe, are major. We urge EU and UK leaders to ensure UK institutions and individuals remain eligible to access these and future multilateral framework programmes. We equally recommend that the UK government makes appropriate financial contributions to ensure their continued effectiveness and impact.

4. Young Europeans and future generations: We call on UK and other European leaders to give serious consideration to empowering and engaging young people as effective agents of positive change. If Europe is to prosper, young people must be able to play a meaningful part in shaping what will be their futures. We therefore urge EU and UK leaders to proactively engage youth in Brexit policy- making. Furthermore, we urge European leaders to ensure every young person in the UK and other European countries gains inter-cultural and international experience, either through study, work, performances, research, academia, training, language learning or other programmes or exchanges. Such experiences are proven to develop skills, create opportunities, broaden horizons, and build much- needed trust and understanding between nations.

5. Intellectual property, qualifications and regulatory framework: EU and UK leaders should continue to cooperate over UK-EU intellectual property issues and regulation, which is particularly important in enabling cultural, scientific and educational bodies both in the UK and in EU countries to capitalise on creativity, ideas and talent. We also urge EU and UK leaders to maintain standards of recognition of professional qualifications between the UK and the remaining 27 EU member states in the fields of education, culture, science and research.

6. Informed decision-making: We urge EU and UK leaders to work with representatives from the education, culture and science sectors in the UK and in EU Europe throughout Brexit negotiations in order to shape future pan-European cooperation, which will benefit us all.

The statement is the latest in a series of efforts from the creative industries to promote its interests after Brexit.

Dezeen's Brexit Design Manifesto communicated the views of architects and designers across the UK, while the Creative Industries Federation has continued to act as a mediator between the government and the industry.