EDINBURGH’s festivals should urgently start work now on a “Plan B” should Britain be forced into a hard Brexit next year, according to a senior European correspondent.

Udo Seiwert-Fauti, a German who writes on Brexit, Europe and Scottish affairs from the European Union, said he also feared that foreign visitors who were used to travelling freely within Europe, would stay away from Edinburgh next year.

His comments come just as the festival season – which is worth more than £300 million to Scotland’s economy – gets under way in the capital.

One example is the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which is a permit-free festival, meaning that performers and their “legitimate entourages” do not need work permits to appear in the UK.

“Performers and entourages at permit-free festivals enter the UK as a visitor (standard) and do not need to apply for entry under the points based system or as a permitted paid engagements visitor,” the society tells artistes.

“However you may still need to apply for a visa in advance and the requirements depend on which country you are coming from.”

Seiwert-Fauti, who has been covering EU affairs for more than a decade, said he was being told that could all change in the event of a hard Brexit.

“For 2019 Edinburgh Festivals will certainly have to plan working permits, for example, for EU orchestras, EU singers, EU musicians, EU speakers in the UK,” he said.

“Many festival organisers should force their visa departments to act. I am convinced every EU national wanting to visit the UK and the festivals in 2019 will have to apply for a visa to enter the UK.

“I am sure there is more to come. This will certainly take time, maybe months.”

He said it would also work in reverse, with UK itinerant artistes facing similar – perhaps even more stringent – restrictions on their movements.

“Visas, working permits, controls at airports, no free movement any longer.

“It also could be that UK people in future only get a visa for one EU country but not a Schengen visa, which makes travelling easier in all Schengen Area countries.

“To clear these problems in the case of Ukraine, it nearly took eight years to find an agreement.”

Seiwert-Fauti said the European TV directive will not exist in the UK after next March, which could cause problems for broadcasts into the EU.

It could also make selling a product, such as the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, into European countries more difficult.

“Selling a product, whatever it is, from a third country into the EU will need special arrangements and trade deals,” he said.

“All TV products – think about BBC Scotland selling the Tattoo yearly to many continental broadcasters, where it is a TV highlight – will be ‘tariffed’ in future to safeguard inner EU productions.

“Many Scottish media companies will suffer when they want to employ EU people for TV or radio or online productions. Even if the EU people would like to come, it is in no way assured that the UK Government will allow them to enter.”

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said they were awaiting clarity on the Brexit negotiations before making any detailed comment, but a spokesperson told The National: “We are immensely proud of our permit free status and the open access platform that the Fringe provides for artists from across the globe.

“However, the Fringe Society has no jurisdiction over the visa process and is not an immigration authority.

“We will continue to work with the authorities in the UK to ensure that our international participants are informed about the immigration requirements and that the process is as smooth as possible.”

Meanwhile, it is thought that more than 1.4 million young people could tip the scales if a new referendum were to be held on EU membership.

A Sunday newspaper said census data revealed that was how many had come of age since the 2016 poll, which outnumbered the Leave side’s 1.26m majority over Remainers.

The report said pollsters generally agreed that up to 75% of voters under the age of 25 wanted to stay in the EU in 2016. YouGov put the figure at 71%, while former Tory donor Lord Ashcroft reckoned it was 73%. Recent polling indicated that 70% of undergraduates thought they would be worse off after Brexit, while 67% said they would support another vote.

Sir Vince Cable, the LibDem leader, said: “The referendum two years ago was influenced by the Conservatives’ resistance to open up the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds. Given theirs is the generation that will be most hurt by Brexit, this was wrong.

“What is striking is that getting on for one-and-a-half million of those denied that vote have turned 18 since June 2016.

“We know from the breakdown of the referendum that the vast majority of these young people would have voted to remain in the EU, almost the polar opposite of older people.

“This demographic shift shows why it is so important that they have the opportunity to have the final say on any chaotic Conservative deal with the option of an exit from Brexit.”