age for drinking in europe
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. In Switzerland, the drinking age is actually 16 for beer and wine and 18 for hard liquor, which I think is a great system. By the time you get to be 21, you’re already a very responsible drinker (most people, anyway). A 2008 survey found that “while young people in most European countries are drinking less frequently than their parents and grandparents, they are consuming more alcohol each time they drink,” which is similar to the U.S. trend of infrequent but heavy drinking. “The drinking age is so stupid,” they say. “If only it was like it is in Europe,” suggesting with little sense of irony that, were the drinking age lower, they would both drink more moderately and enjoy the new found freedom to buy $11 cases of Natural Light. European teenagers’ familiarity with alcohol use, driven by a culture of “moderate, supervised drinking within families” and lower legal drinking ages, is an increasingly attractive model for American parents, writes John Cloud in Time magazine. France- The legal drinking and purchase age is 16 for beer and wine and 18 for spirits. Anyone under the age of 16 can drink alcohol as long as the child is with the parent/guardian. Italy- It is legal for 14-18 year olds to drink if the alcohol is provided by a parent or legal guardian. Best Answer: Different countries have different legal drinking ages. Here are the legal drinking ages for UK, France, and Italy. UK- The Legal drinking age is 5. The legal purchase age is 16/18. The legal age to purchase alcohol is 18. Children aged 16 and 17, with the licensee's permission, may consume wine, beer, cider or perry with a meal in a restaurant providing they're with an adult and the adult orders it. All of this suggests that the merits of a lower drinking age and of early familiarization with alcohol might be something of a myth, too. In many European countries, the discussion about binge drinking is focused on 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds, not college students. 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. Background: Teen drinking in the U.S. and Europe. The Washington Post observed in 2004 that Europe has relatively few incidents of teens’ driving drunk despite low drinking ages. The article credits “stiff” driving regulations: in Europe, most licenses aren’t awarded until age 18. “It’s not that young people in Europe are more careful. It’s that they haven’t got the car,” says an officer at Eurocare, a group that works toward lowering European alcohol consumption. But binge drinking rates are on the rise, according to Eurocare.
16 for beer and wine and 18 for spirits.