The Prime Minister has hailed a new post-Brexit agreement with the EU, which the Government says will slash waiting times for holidaymakers travelling to the Continent.

This week’s deal will help make food cheaper, slash red tape, open up access to the EU market and boost the UK economy by £9bn, Downing Street says.

However, it does not cover a raft of post-Brexit travel barriers that are set to continue to affect British travellers.

The UK will continue to hold talks with the European Union on the details of each commitment.

E-Gates

The Government has secured a deal that it says will open up access for British nationals to EU airport e-gates, a move that should cut border waiting times for holidaymakers.

Since Brexit, British travellers to Europe have faced lengthy queues at many European airports as they wait to have their passports stamped.

Since Brexit, British travellers have faced long queues at airports as their passports must be checked manually (Photo: Oli Scarff/Getty)

The deal announced on Monday will end “dreaded queues at border control”, the Government insists.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister leading the negotiations with Brussels, said he wanted a deal that allows UK passport holders “to be able to go through far more quickly”.

He said: “I think we can all agree that not being stuck in queues and having more time to spend, whether it’s on holiday or work trips, having more time to do what you want … would be a very sensible objective.”

Youth mobility

The Government has agreed to negotiate a youth mobility scheme with the EU to allow under-30s to move, work and study between Britain and Europe.

However, Brussels has not yet accepted a limit on numbers for the scheme, which would mirror existing arrangements the UK has with countries like Australia and New Zealand.

Last year, Brussels called for a scheme that would allow 18 to 30-year-olds to stay for up to four years in the EU, which was rejected by the then-Conservative government.

Labour has insisted on an annual cap that was time-limited in a bid to ensure its manifesto commitment to reduce net migration was met.

The Tories could oppose any loosening of arrangements on youth mobility with Kemi Badenoch saying she feared it would mean a return to free movement “by the back door”.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, with Sir Keir Starmer in Tirana, Albania, last week. Starmer will host von der Leyen in London today (Photo: Leon Neal/AP)

Pet passports

As part of the reset deal, cats and dogs will also be able to travel more easily, with the introduction of “pet passports”.

The Government says this will eliminate the need for animal health certificates for every trip, in a boost to Labour from its Brexit reset talks. Since the UK left the EU’s pet passport scheme in 2021, British travellers to Europe have had to get their pets microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and get a health certificate.

Around a quarter of a million pet owners had taken their cats and dogs before the UK left the scheme at the end of a post-Brexit transition phase.

“We have always been clear that that kind of agreement can bring all kinds of benefits,” a Government source told The Telegraph before Monday’s UK-EU summit in London.

Erasmus

The agreement also says that Britain and the European Commission should work towards the “association of the UK to the European Union Erasmus+ programme”.

The i Paper had revealed in December that the UK could rejoin the programme, which allows British and EU young people to study in each other’s countries.

Erasmus+ was established in 1987 and is an EU programme that provides funding for education, training or sport in another country for between two and 12 months.

The UK withdrew from it after Brexit and set up the Turing Scheme as a replacement.

What is not in the Brexit reset deal?

However, the new agreement does not include details on a range of other travel concerns facing British nationals.

Touring artists

A deal on improved access to Europe for performing artists and creative workers is still unresolved. The agreement says only that the European Commission and UK “recognise the value of travel and cultural and artistic exchanges, including the activities of touring artists”.

Sir Elton John has warned MPs that the UK music industry could lose ‘a generation of talent’ because of post-Brexit restrictions on touring the EU (Photo: Matt Crossick/PA)

They will “continue their efforts to support travel and cultural exchange”, a leaked copy of the deal, published in the Telegraph, reveals.

Since Brexit, restrictions have been placed on the number of days that Britons can be in Europe, and this has impacted touring artists.

British citizens can only be in Europe for 90 days in a 180-day period. But many shows tour for longer periods than that, while some artists have a concentration of work over certain periods, which are constrained by the limit, according to trade union Equity.

Equity has called for improved access to Europe for performing artists and creative workers to form part of this week’s EU-UK summit.

However, experts say a deal would be tricky as it would mean each bloc member state rewriting customs rules on how artists travel between countries.

Biometric checks

The talks do not cover the introduction of looming biometrics checks that are due to come into effect in October.

The long-delayed Entry/Exit System (EES) has sparked warnings from Kent authorities of queues of up to 15 hours at Dover, with non-EU travellers required to give fingerprints and facial scanning.

Dover port. The European Entry/Exit System (EES) will register travellers’ fingerprints and photos and scan passports (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty)

An app being designed by Brussels, allowing British travellers to submit their data in advance, would speed up waiting times, but is not expected to be ready before October.

The European Council and European Parliament have now agreed that EES will be phased in over six months from October, with checks by French authorities at juxtaposed borders in Dover, St Pancras’s Eurostar terminal and Eurotunnel at Folkestone.

But officials in France have warned that the threat of lengthy delays at frontiers will be greater without extra police resources.

Mobile phone roaming data

Since Brexit, most UK mobile network providers only provide mobile coverage with no extra charge when you are at home.

It is unlikely mobile phone operators will axe the roaming charges that they now apply to British customers using their devices in the EU.

The previous ban was a provision of the European single market, which the Government has firmly ruled out rejoining.