<i>&gt; in Europe people start drinking very young (illegally)....<p>&gt; By the time we have easy access to alcohol (money+legal) we already know how to treat it with some amount of respect.</i><p>I would suggest that early illegal drinking is a dangerous thing. It works as you say for the majority, but for a sizeable minority it causes serious problems both then and in the future. Overall it is a bad risk&#x2F;reward situation IMO.<p><i>Legal</i> early drinking while young more reliably has the effect you describe in my experience though.<p>I don&#x27;t know about elsewhere in Europe, but in the UK while it is illegal to sell alcohol directly to anyone under 18 under <i>any</i> circumstances, or those 18+ if you have any reason to believe they are buying in order to supply a minor except under specific conditions, you <i>can</i> (at your discretion) knowingly sell it to a &quot;responsible adult&quot; who is buying for a minor (IIRC the cut-off here is 14+) <i>if</i> the drink is part of a sit-down meal in a properly licensed premises. This covers having wine or beer with a meal in a restaurant. Furthermore, in your private residence you can give alcohol (again at your discretion) to anyone older than 5. The &quot;at your discretion&quot; part is vitally important here, it is the caveat through which the seller&#x2F;giver is liable for prosecution under child protection laws if they are seen to allow anything that might be dangerous to a minor or get the &quot;responsible adult&quot; judgement wrong, and is also the caveat that allows the seller&#x2F;giver to say &quot;no&quot; for <i>any</i> reason (which they do not have any legal obligation to explain, and if the customer gets angry about the situation that is adequate reason for refusal on its own in addition to any other considerations).