A general fireworks ban from next New Year seems very unlikely. State Secretary Chris Jansen (Milieu) thinks that the elaboration of the bill of the Lower House will last at least a year and a half.
“That means that the fireworks ban could not come into force this New Year,” explains the PVV minister in the House of Representatives.
Mirjam Bikker from the ChristenUnie thinks it can be faster. Jansen is only planning to work out her proposal as soon as the House of Representatives have agreed to the fireworks ban. That can be “a step faster” if his ministry is already starting the effect, which is not unusual in political The Hague. She suspects that there is unwillingness.
“I’m going to think about it again,” says Jansen after Bikker has expressed her irritations about this.
If the House of Representatives votes later on the prohibition will show exactly how this is designed. Until then, MPs can make proposals for small changes.
The initiators GroenLinks-PvdA and Party for the Animals want to put “everything on everything” to ban fireworks this year. The parties fear that people will light more fireworks if they know that it is only allowed once, with nuisance as a result.
The VVD wants the ChristenUnie proposal to be worked out and that there will be a plan to maintain the fireworks ban. Minister of Justice David van Weel promises, among other things, to consult the municipalities and the police to prepare them, even if the fireworks ban is not yet commencing this year. He also wants to tackle illegal fireworks.
The third requirement of the liberals is compensation for the fireworks industry. Jansen has already indicated that importers and sellers can get a total of 100 to 150 million euros in compensation if the prohibition starts this year.