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Europe Drinking Age
Legal drinking age in Europe varies greatly with the country. The most varied ages spectrum is seen in the UK, where drinking is legal, even for a kid of 5 years, provided some rules are abided. Any one who is above 18 years of age can purchase alcohol in the UK, and people above 16 years of age can purchase alcohol chocolates. Kids, whose ages are 16-18 with special licenses, can consume wines and spirits at a pub with their main course meals, provided they are accompanied by an adult and the liquor is ordered by the adult. Children from 14-16 years of age can consume beer under adult supervision. Children below 14 years of age are not allowed into pubs, unless they are accompanied by their parents. For a kid above 5 years of age, drinking is legal in one’s home, provided it is supervised by parents.
For France as well, anyone under the age of 16 can consume alcohol within the boundaries of their homes under adult supervision. For purchase of beer and wine, you need to be at least 16 years old, and for purchasing harder liquor with more alcohol content, one should be more than 18 years of age. In Italy also, as well as in other parts of the continent, rules are almost similar. Anyone between 14-18 years of age can consume liquor in their homes and can purchase alcohol after having reached the age of 18.
Again, much like the legal drinking age, legal age for smoking and consuming cigarettes and tobacco products varies from country to country. In Europe, the legal age of purchase of cigarettes is 18 years in almost all the countries, with an exception to Netherlands, where this criterion is relaxed to 16 years of age. Similarly the legal age for smoking is also 18 years except in the UK and Ireland, where smoking is allowed after the age of 16. Netherlands and Isles of Man impose no such restrictions pertaining to smoking ages. Similarly, the legal ages for consent to sex are disparate, depending upon the country. In the Vatican, it is the lowest, set at 12 years of age, where as in places like Malta and turkey, it is as high as 18 years of age, which happens to be the highest in Europe. On an average, this age mostly revolves around 14-16 years of age.
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This post was written by admin on November 2008
Well most of this laws are there to protect us. Some of them are over-protective while others offer no protection at all. Depending on the country it is hard to think that the laws will be supported by everyone.
I agree with you Andrew but most of this laws are outdated and need urgent work done on them to keep track with the global changes in every society. But i guess most of the governments are concerned more about the financial crisis then this issue.
Giving the current situation that is quite understandable. However the young population is the root of every economy and every country. If the young people aren’t guided in the right direction that will surely bring devastating consequences later on.
Well you can’t expect much from a kid that starts drinking at the age of 5, now can you? So what if it’s supervised by the parents? What can they do if the kid starts to drink often at home. Send him to a rehab center? Come on!
What to say about Netherlands and Isles of Man that have no restrictions on smoking ages. But then Netherlands is also known for it’s coffee-shops. My guess is no limits there also. But somehow their economy is among the strongest in Europe.
The legal age for buying alcohol is somewhat the same through Europe thanks to the European Union. But the drinking age especially at home is very different because it is treated as an cultural issue for every country.
Parents are the main factor in raising the child in a proper way so it’s their responsibility to make sure that he or she doesn’t start drinking or smoking too early. That goes also for the proper age for giving consent to sex.
I agree. But they could use some help don’t you think? With their busy schedules is very hard for them to keep track of everything their child does. Therefore the legal ages and boundaries should be set to help the parents.
I am really concerned after reading this. My husband and I are thinking of having a child and this issue is really important to me. I didn’t know that the drinking age is only 5 in the UK. I am sure most parents don’t know either.
Am I the only one that is noticing a typo in the article? Just a little hint. Turkey is a country where most of the population are Muslims so i understand the high legal age for consent to sex. What I can not understand is Vatican’s law.
My opinion is that the drinking age and smoking age should be the same in the whole EU. Make it 16 and then strictly obey that law. Severe punishments for the youngsters and their parents that break this law.
My question is why in the US the drinking age is 21? I don’t know about the smoking age but this is confusing me. You are an adult if you are 18 but you still can’t drink until you are 21.
Yea that is something confusing. I mean you are able to go to war at 18 and get shot and wounded or something even worse but you are not allowed to go and buy yourself a drink. I mean c’mon.
First of all, alcohol and cigarettes are NOT for children. There’s a reason why you have to be at the legal age to buy them. In my opinion, they should restrict selling alcohol and cigarettes.
Ben, you can’t just restrict them. Everyone does what he wants. However, there are lots of places where the legal age of buying cigarettes or the legal drinking age is not respected.
All said and done. Legal limit to consume alcohol is good. But these things are better when the parent tell the kids rather than the government. It’s the parents who decide when to drink and when to stop, until the kid is 18 years. what do you think?
For a kid of age 5 drinking is legal!!?? What kind of law is that? It doesn’t matter if one is at home or in a pub, the legal age of drinking should be 18.
Adult supervision or not no kid under the age of 16 should be allowed to drink even if he is within the boundaries of his home. This is preposterous.
@Samantha I wholeheartedly agree with you. Being a mother I’m concerned for my child. No kid under the age of 16 should be allowed to buy alcohol. you are right it is very hard for us to keep track of everything our children does.
Rick maybe you are 18 that’s why you have such view, when you become a parent you’ll understand what the fuss is all about
The legal age for smoking and consuming cigarettes and tobacco products varies from country to country so you can’t be exactly sure what is the legal age for these stuff where.
Netherlands and Isles of Man impose no such restrictions pertaining to smoking ages. Similarly, the legal ages for consent to sex are disparate, depending upon the country. In the Vatican, it is the lowest, set at 12 years of age, where as in places like Malta and turkey, it is as high as 18 years of age, which happens to be the highest in Europe.
This is very bad, In our country, you have sex only after you marry and Drinking and smocking is considered as vary bad and is generally avoided by good people.
Интересеая содержательная заметка. Автору репект)))
questo articolo è tradotto con i piedi! un italiano non capisce niente!
I wosrk with small children and have found that the majority of parents and carer do care for their children and try to avoid causing them harm by exposure to alcohol, cigarettes, etc. However there are still those who lack the education or knowledge of what is safe and unfortunatley history repeats through generation to generation until someone breaks the cycle.
bad laws produce bad results we abolished alcohol and got proabition refer maddnes bad laws teenagers will find what they want laws made what they don’t want there children to do produces bad laws in this country these laws prduce more demand in countries that have resonable laws don’t have the problems we have here and the smoking laws we are doing here by political correctious run amock the real harm is overley protective parents and the nanny state
why is it that these commentors want bad laws that don’t work countries with lower drinking ages don’t have the teen drinking problems we do, age of consent for sex education is the best it is a natural thing to do the us has the highest teen pregancy and the worst laws, smoking laws have failed in most coutries teen age female smoking is on the rise laws made by what parents want prduces the worst laws the nanny state restrics freedom of choice
We will just leave it to the governance of the particular country. It is an anology of parent-child relationship. Like parents that set rules and anything happen to the child the parents are accountable and held responsible for the action made by their sons or daughter.
But in my point of view, it would be better if there is a set of rules that can be applied to the entire European communities. Age 18 would be an ideal!
i think thje majority of you are straight up retarded. Seriously the drikin age in the US should be lowered. we need atleast equilization of the legal age of rights,drinking,smoking, and sex. The driving age should reamin the same and the laws for DWI should be greatened and the threats of DWI should be more greatly promoted. There should be more classes on responsible drinking/smoking to provide awarness. and the classes shouldnt just spit on drinking and smoking because as we all truely know there is a good and bad to everything and drinking is truely not bad. also for sex we should have greater sex education so teenagers are more aware of the problems with unsafe sex, and again the classes shouldnt spit on sex cause sex is natural thing for every person religious views all set aside.
Now the laws in Europe have seemed to work just perfectly for them because in their culture the parents are responsible and seem to fully penetrate the duty of teaching smart drinking/ other risky habits. The US needs to take a look at the statistics of European accidents and how there drinking/other laws have worked. This is what needs to happen.
Hello. I am from Europe but live in the USA. First I would like to say, that anyone commenting here should be respectful and use proper language. I just stumbled upon this forum by accident while looking up info about the European Union. So I would like to add my own “2 cents” to the subject: Rules provide a guideline, some of us need them, some of us don’t.
As far as being allowed to “drink” at an early age, it just means that you can take a sip from your mom’s wine glass and it is not a crime. So it all depends on how responsible and mature the parents are.
Regardless of what country we live in, I think that as individuals we have the duty to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. Not out of fear of prosecution, but because it is the right thing to do. And isn’t that the intention of most laws, to keep us safe from harm?
AHAHHAHAH just because a kid is 5 years old and can have a sip of wine doesn’t mean he’s going to be an alcoholic #9 Rosemary ahahhaha. In europe the laws are more relaxed because Europeans have more power to choose where the US government forces us to live a certain way. Just because the law is 16 doesn’t mean that every 16 year old is constantly drunk… USE YOUR HEADS PEOPLE!!
im 14 i drink a little bit but not crazy
love to smoke my parents let me drink but dont know about the fags
i buy them from a shop which serves under age but i think that
sex in uk should be 14
dinking should be 16 and smoking should be 16
Laws are there to protect us, yes. But at times I wonder if the US was more like the European countries, would we have as many problems? I think that alcohol and cigarettes are tempting here because we have age limits on them. But when I was in Germany several years ago and could buy the alcohol, it did not seem to be that big of a treat because there I was legal.
Molly and Samantha I agree with you all the way. Do we really think that at 18 much less 16 our kids are ready for alcohol and can handle it? I dare say not. I think that alcohol should be for adults only and that maybe Europe should follow in the US footsteps. No drinking until age 21.
I was surprised at how easy it was to buy alcohol when I was in Europe. I bought a bottle to share with my friends one night and was nervous about buying it. Here in the states I would have been carded and turned away at 19. But in Germany I was free to drink. Legally.
This may upset some people but here is how I feel. I agree that France is doing it right. I was allowed to drink with my family when I was 16, not to get drunk but more of a social thing. And then I was not tempted to get drunk when I went out with friends. I say let youngsters drink if they are responsible. It may help with so many of our underage drinkers here in the states.
I feel that if you do not make a big deal of drinking and smoking then kids will not really want to do it. I mean in the states kids are dying to drink and smoke because there is a thrill about it. I wonder if kids in Europe feel that way? I would think not since they are allowed to do it at such an early age.
In my opinion, back to the fact. To those of you that said eighteen is too young to be able to drink in the States. It’s kind of funny that at eighteen you can go off to war and put your life in danger to protect YOUR RIGHTS. But heyyy you can’t have a beer, or enter a bar. I call that bullshit, and pretty ridiculous. There needs to be a change in the law. After all, We the people.. what happened to that?
I can not imagine having it be legal to give a 6 year old beer. I find that bizare. I wonder how many of them actually drink though? I would not think too many of htem would. Or at least I hope not.
I feel that there should be boundaries on the age of alcohol and cigarettes. Europe may be too lenient.
I guess I fail to see why at 18 you can buy alcohol, but at the age of 16 you can buy alcohol chocolates. Seems sort of ridiculous to me.
Anyway, I think that rules are set into place so they keep us safe. But at the same time, I wonder if we in the states would have so much trouble with teen drinking if we had a lower drinking age?
I think that if the teens in Europe are allowed to drink there must be a reason for it. Maybe since they are allowed to drink at an early age they do not feel the pressure to drink and get drunk like Americans do. Some over here think the drinking age should be lowered but I have to disagree. It would not be a good thing because teens would take full advantage of it and be having alcohol all the time.
So you are telling me that my younger brother could go to Europe and drink even though he is only 17? That does not seem right or fair. I had to wait here in the states til I was 21. Oh well. I think that it just shows the responsbility of other countries kids these days.
Mixed feelings on the age of drinking for sure. I do think that many teens here in the states want to drink because they think it is cool and do it because it is illegal. So if the age was lowered then maybe many would not be tempted to do it. But then again 18 year olds are not always responsible enough so it may not be a good idea.
What a debate this is. I feel that some are mature at age 18 and could handle the liquor then. But then there are others who are in their late 20s and can not handle it. So it is a hard choice. I guess that age 21 is a good age to leave the legal drinking age at.
Europeans must just be more responsible than Americans. I think that is what it boils down to. I mean you have them who can drink and they do not go hog wild. Here when they drink they can go hog wild and that is where the problems are.
I am not so sure I like the idea of being able to drink when you are that young. Here in the states that would be a huge headache. To many teens like to drink now as it is. I could not imagine lowering the drinking age like it is so low in Europe. That is just crazy to me.
If I had a child I would let him/her start drinking at 13 in my own home if they wanted to try it. I did that, and I am mature enough now that alcohol isn’t a big deal anymore for me. I am now 18. My parents are well educated and I am going to university this year. By banning it until you are old enough means that people will over use it then.
The 16 years of age requirement for buying alcohol chocolates is right, as there is alcohol in them, but not enough to make you drunk.
I totally agree that laws are to protect us from harm. countries just don’t agree with one another due to cultural/historical/religious differences. That’s all and that’s all it should be. Being from the Netherlands, I sometimes got wine or beer from the liquor store for a neighbour (an alcoholic) and fags for my mother and other women. Sometimes I did groceries for the prostitutes in the area:) I must have been no older than 11 yo. I sipped a beer,didn’t like it. Smoked, didn’t like it. For me and my friends alcohol and cigs were just as exciting before 16 as it is for US kids before ages 18 and 21 but because at 14-16 you’re truly a kid and can be punished by your parents and feel guilty, drinking stayed very limited. for the US kids however, they feel they can drive a car (big responsibility!!) join the army at 18, that not being able to drink while they are considered adults is directly interfering with their freedom of choice as adult beings. It’s somewhat humiliating not being able to enter bars and clubs and drink. So when they get their hands on alcohol, it’s binge time! When will be the next opportunity, right? So in my opinion, lowering the age a bit would help considerably to make the wait more bearable.
I think it’s much more worrying that in some countries sex is only legal when married and that the age to get married is sometimes as low as 12 while the older party can be as old as 40++(ps. the legal age of consent in the Vatican is NOT 12 but 14, just like in Italy!! See other article on this site and there are many mistakes like that!). It’s legalising (UK spelling) paedophilia. Think about that! Just send your kids to Europe for a blast, they won’t come home addicted but wiser.
Funny. I think the actual issue isn’t a question of whether or not kids can drink the alcohol, it’s whether or not they’ll be able to handle it. Ever notice how a lot of college kids in the US go crazy with alcohol once they hit 21? That’s because they weren’t ever allowed to drink. Kids in Europe are actually much smarter with alcohol because they’re exposed to it at a younger age. Besides, if a kid is going to turn into a drunk when he/she gets older, it really doesn’t matter what the drinking age is. If they’re that dumb/misguided, waiting a couple of years isn’t going to change much.