Overview
- The family ministry's draft, reported Sunday by Politico, would delete a 1952 Youth Protection Act exception that lets 14‑ and 15‑year‑olds drink beer, wine or sparkling wine when a guardian is present.
- Officials placed the change inside a broader child and youth welfare reform, and the draft is now in consultation with Germany's states and stakeholder groups before cabinet, Bundestag and Bundesrat votes.
- The ministry frames the move as addiction prevention, warning of health harm and links to violence and neglect, while federal surveys show a first drink at about 15.1 years and a rebound in teen binge drinking since the pandemic.
- State health ministers and the Bundesrat previously urged an end to the exception, while hospitality leaders, including Bavaria's Dehoga, argue parental supervision is safer and part of local drinking culture.
- If enacted, under‑16s would no longer be allowed any alcohol in public even with parents, beer and wine would stay legal from 16 and spirits from 18, and the bundle with the larger reform could speed or slow a vote later this year.