Corona Consultation “Touring in Europe during COVID-19”
The Music Business Consultation is an open network format for exchange, advice and problem analysis. With the support of experts, support and know-how for concrete questions and topics are offered to a small group of participants at regular events. We have expanded this format thematically and try to clarify questions around the crisis under the title “Corona Consultation”.
In this Corona Consultation on 6 December 2021, Sebastian Hoffmann gave an insight into the topic of “Tours in Europe during COVID-19” via video conference (Zoom).
Sebastian Hoffmann is an advisor at touring artists, the cross-sectoral German Mobility Information Point for administrative issues related to international working in the cultural and creative sectors.
In the workshop, he addressed the following topics:
- Entering Germany from a non-EU country
- Reporting obligations and quarantine on entry
- EU digital certificate
- 2G at events
- Country-specific regulations
- Tips for travelling
Here you can see the recording of the talk hour and have another look at the PDF file (sprechstunde_touren_während_covid_19).
Summary
One of the topics discussed in this workshop was the obstacles artists from non-EU countries face when entering Germany. The possibilities for artists who are not on the so-called positive lists (these can be found on the website of the Federal Ministry of the Interior) and who have not yet been fully vaccinated (with vaccines recognised in the EU) were discussed. In this case, there is the possibility to check the “compelling necessity of entry” and, if necessary, to enter as a “skilled worker”. If you are considering this possibility, the application must be checked here.
Reporting obligations and quarantine periods
In the next step, Sebastian Hoffmann showed which reporting obligations apply where and what the possible quarantine periods could look like depending on the case. At this point, it would be important to know whether the person has been in a high-risk area or a virus-variant area in the last 10 days (there is also a list for this at the RKI). If you enter the country from a high-risk area, a fully recovered or vaccinated person does not have to be quarantined! However, if there is no proof of vaccination, you must go into quarantine for 10 days. BUT there is an exception for the cultural sector, because artists can already avoid quarantine upon entry with a negative test. There are no exceptions for the virus-variant areas. Only German nationals or people residing in Germany are allowed to enter. However, a 14-day quarantine must be held.
Problems with the EU Digital Certificate?
With regard to the EU Digital Certificate, however, there is a problem. Although some non-EU countries also use this certificate (a list of these countries can be found on the EU page), not all of them do. People who do not have an EU certificate but have received a vaccine approved in the EU can get an EU certificate at a pharmacy (a list of vaccines approved in the EU can be found on the website of the Paul Ehrlich Institute).
2G events possible without proof of vaccination?
An additional point was what to do if it is a 2G event but the artists cannot prove that they have been vaccinated. You can read up on this in the regulations of the individual federal states, because they differ from each other. In Berlin, a negative test could replace the vaccination protection, if the artists cannot be replaced under any circumstances.
If you need information on the Corona Entry Ordinance, you can find it on the BMG website.
Important: This information is current as of 6 December 2021.
We would like to thank Sebastian Hoffmann for the informative talk and for sharing her expertise, as well as all participants for the lively exchange!
Photo by Branimit Balogović on unsplash
