British tourists will have to face long passport-stamping queues when travelling in the European Union for quite a while longer, it has been revealed. Brits will not be able to use e-gates in the EU until October of this year at the earliest, though they could endure well into 2026.

This has emerged in spite of the high-profile e-gates agreement unveiled at the EU-UK summit in London on Monday (May 19). According to the text of the agreement, both the UK and the EU agree there will be "no legal barriers to e-gate use for British nationals travelling to and from EU member states after the introduction of the EU entry/exit system (EES)". However, the government has said that this will not be implemented until October. Even then, the e-gates will be phased in over a period of six months.

Keir Starmer argued on Tuesday that the move to allow Brits to use European e-gates was one of the core elements of the recently negotiated deal with the EU, which, combined with the US and India deals, proved "Britain was back on the world stage."

"This partnership helps British holidaymakers, who will be able to use e-gates when they travel to Europe, ending those huge queues at passport control," the PM said.

Just one day previously, Mr Starmer said he had "urged EU member states" to allow British travellers to use e-gates as soon as possible: “We will be pressing hard on that. There’s no inhibition now on this, so I want to see it done quickly.”

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has also said that it will rely on confirmation from EU member states when "wet stamping" of passports will end.

When asked if e-gates would be available to Brits this summer, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told the BBC: "Nothing is going to happen before that's [the new scheme] in place".

The new Europe Entry/ Exit Scheme (EES) will gather biometric data on citizens arriving in the EU from non-member countries, including the UK. The data will be held in a new EU database. The scheme has faced multiple delays and is now due to be rolled out in October.

"Once the EES is in place, UK nationals will therefore be able to use e-gates where they are available, provided they are registered in the system," a spokesperson from the EU Commission told the BBC.