Before Brexit, it would have been a routine job for freelance event producer Netty Miles to bring traveling exhibitions to Brussels.

But since the UK ended free movement with Europe, life has become more complicated for Miles and a team of three technicians who need to set up the exhibition, Sunwhich has a 7-meter-tall sphere covered with dry ice.

Initially, Miles was told her crew needed to apply”professional cardDoing business in Brussels. This will require a £250 medical examination, a £100 criminal record check and an interview at the Belgian embassy – all of which can take up to eight weeks.

The £40,000 collaboration was about to be scrapped when Myers discovered that because the sun was a joint creation of artists and solar scientists, staff could use a temporary waiver allowing “artists and their assistants” work permits.

“It’s been incredibly stressful. At one point I thought we were going to have to cancel, but now we’re going with this invitation to the museum, and we just hope it goes well,” Myers said.

As Covid-19 restrictions are lifted and European business travel resumes, trade groups have warned that thousands of British small businesses are facing similar bureaucratic problems when providing services in the EU.

Russell Antram, EU trade director at industry body CBI, said the multiple rules in 27 countries “are a real challenge for the largest HR departments, let alone small businesses. “.

“As virus restrictions are lifted, the complexities facing companies are becoming clearer,” he said. “It is critical that the UK and individual EU member states make progress in bilateral negotiations to ease restrictions.”

William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) contained more than 1,000 restrictions on cross-border trade in services.

He said bilateral agreements with individual EU member states were needed, but EU-level flexibility was also needed to remove the ambiguity faced by employers, employees and contractors on short-term business travel in the EU. “Companies cannot wait for the TCA review in 2026,” Bain added.

UK-EU trade in services is worth £121 billion a year, of which £13.8 billion comes from companies with fewer than 250 employees and £9.4 billion comes from companies with fewer than 50 employees. National Bureau of Statistics.

As part of the TCA, UK citizens can travel to the EU visa-free and stay up to 90 days in each 180-day period – but this does not necessarily include the right to work.

The EU’s decision to introduce a new US-style Electronic Visa Waiver Scheme (ETIAS) from January 2023 is expected to make it easier for EU countries to monitor tourists and catch anyone who overstays their visa.

Andy Corrigan, director of Viva La Visa, a company specializing in music industry visa consulting, said some smaller operators, such as freelance consultants or individual musicians, choose to fly “under the radar” and not before. Work with permission, but they do so at a risk.

However, the option for many is to stop working in the EU altogether. “We saw things get cancelled because they said, ‘This is so sad,'” Corrigan added.

Deborah Annetts, chief executive of ISM, the professional association for musicians, said invitations to work in Europe were dwindling due to a dizzying array of rules across Europe.

While some countries such as Greece and Croatia do not offer visa exemptions, others such as Sweden or Denmark offer time-limited exemptions based on the importance of the artist, she said. In some EU countries such as Belgium, the rules even differ between regions.

“We urgently need greater mobility for musicians and their instruments.”

Craig Hellen, owner of Bexmedia, a Gloucestershire-based four-man company that shoots video for major sports teams across Europe, believes concerns over paperwork and the risk of breaching EU law could affect The future direction of the business.

“It changed our focus. We asked ourselves, ‘Do we want to target EU business? Is this right for us now, or is it going to be a fake economy? Should we be focusing more on the UK again?’ “He said.

For smaller companies that rely more on trade with the EU, such as Lincoln Infinity Engineering Services, which services gas turbine generators, the difficulty lies in making EU customers aware of their obligations.

Richard Lemin, managing director of Infinity, said the company aimed to increase its EU turnover from £750,000 to £1 million by 2022, but had to convince clients to help them obtain the necessary documents.

He worries that with work previously commissioned on short notice taking up to eight weeks to be licensed, it will be harder to compete with bigger rivals for EU regional offices from which they can offer clients Serve.

“The biggest risk to our future business is related to the potential loss of our current EU customers as the work permit process across the EU is not clear or within our control.”

It is uncertain how well different countries will regulate the new rules, and eventually some smaller UK service providers may choose to operate in the “grey area” that visa-free travel offers.

But for Netty Miles, who also works at a traveling circus and whose future business growth depends in part on entering the European Union, it’s better to find an open-minded approach.

“You hear a lot of people using it,” she said. “But if you get caught, then your passport will show you violated the immigration process. I have a new 10-year passport, I’m just not prepared to take that risk.”

The Department for International Trade said the TCA contained some of the “most ambitious trade in services clauses in the EU’s history”.

“Supported by Export Support Services, an expanded Export Academy and a landmark export strategy, we ensure that businesses of all sizes have access to the support they need to trade effectively with Europe,” the department added.