The aim of this study was to examine whether the current literacy programmes in European Union kindergarten curricula support and enhance young children's reading and writing development. This study investigated whether the kindergarten curricula of 10 European countries: Britain, Belgium, France, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Sweden set appropriate goals for young children's acquisition of literacy, provide methodological guidelines that support children's active engagement in reading and writing activities, provide a print-rich classroom environment, emphasise the communicative nature of reading and writing and use play in the learning process. The comparative data analysis showed that European kindergarten curricula seem to support and enhance young children's reading and writing development, and that early literacy acquisition is based on the principles of the new perspective of the emergence of literacy.