Germany tightens teen alcohol rules, ends parental exception

Germany’s federal government has approved legislation that would prohibit people under 16 from consuming alcohol even when accompanied by their parents or legal guardians, Spiegel reports.

The Cabinet approved a proposal put forward by Karin Prien, Federal Minister of Education, Family Affairs, as part of efforts to strengthen protections for young people against the health risks associated with alcohol and the development of dependency. The legislation will now be considered by the Bundestag.

Under the proposed reform, an existing exception in Germany’s Youth Protection Act allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to consume or purchase certain alcoholic beverages when accompanied by their parents or legal guardians would be abolished.

“The exception in the Youth Protection Act that allows 14- and 15-year-olds to consume or purchase alcoholic beverages when accompanied by their parents or legal guardians will be abolished,” the government said in its draft legislation.

The bill’s authors argue that the current exception weakens “the protection of young people from the serious health and social consequences of alcohol consumption and therefore runs counter to the federal government’s goals of improving addiction prevention.”

Germany currently sets the minimum age for purchasing and consuming beer, wine, sparkling wine and mixed drinks based on those beverages at 16. Article 9 of the Youth Protection Act, however, permits an exception for minors accompanied by parents or legal guardians.

The proposed changes would not affect the existing rules governing spirits. Beverages such as hard liquor can only be sold to or consumed by adults under current law, and that provision would remain in place.

By Vafa Guliyeva