§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the age of consent for lawful sexual intercourse in each of the countries in the European Community.
§ Mr. MacleanThe following table sets out what I understand to be the ages at which, provided that there is mutual consent and no special provisions apply—see footnotes—persons may legally engage in heterosexual and homosexual sexual acts in each EC country.
Male/Female Male/Male Female/Female Austria 14 See1 14 Belgium 14 14 14 Denmark 215 215 215 Finland 16 18 318 France 15 15 15 Germany 214 18 214 Greece 15 17 17 Ireland 17 17 15 Italy 214 214 214 Luxembourg 16 16 16 Netherlands 216 216 216 Portugal 14 16 16 Sweden 215 215 215 Spain 216 216 216 United Kingdom 416 18 416 1 Homosexual activities between males aged 14 and over are legal unless one partner is aged 14 to 18 and the other is over 18. 2 A higher age may apply where the older person is in a position of authority, influence or trust. 3 The Finnish parliament is giving consideration to lowering the common age of consent to 15. 417 in Northern Ireland.