Much to the consternation of gamers and games industry alike, support is growing in the EU for new restrictions on the sale of violent videogames to children.

In a meeting organised by EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and Justice Minister Brigitte Zypris encouraged member states to “ban violent videogames”.

Luc Frieden, Justice Minister of Luxembourg, supported the German position and added, "access to children should be cut off. We have to ban some games".

Frattini has proposed new legislation in order to address the sale of mature-rated games to minors, and he believes that the current, localised ratings systems in Europe aren’t up to scratch and that all 27 EU nations should put a unified restrictions system in place.

"The protection of children cannot have borders", he added, going on to say, "What we can do is to raise awareness about sensitivity of the issue and also to increase and to encourage measures to be taken in a practical way by police authorities, particularly about checking the identity of minors", detailed Frattini.

Germany currently holds the European presidency and has had tough games restrictions in place for some time. They intend to involve the Americans and Japanese in this issue too, in order to call for international action.

>> Link - Official Site/European Union