Utrecht is considering raising the legal age for buying beer and wine from 16 to 18 when new laws are brought in allowing local authorities to impose their own age limits, the AD reports on Tuesday.

MPs are due to debate legislation allowing councils to increase the age limit in two weeks.
Utrecht city council hopes every where will opt for the 18-year limit, the paper says, without quoting sources.
In July a government commission recommended raising the age for buying alcohol and soft drugs from 16 to 18. At the moment, 16-year-olds can buy wine and beer and Dutch teenagers are heavy drinkers compared with other European countries.
But MPs are known to have concerns about the idea of a flexible age limit. Some say the move will lead to alcohol tourism, with teenagers crossing into neighbouring villages to buy beer where the age limit is lower.

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