“Firming fireworks is quite a special tradition, if you look at it from a distance,” says Mayor Eric van Oosterhout of Emmen. “A relatively young tradition too, only originated in the 70s. So we shouldn’t make it appear as if it has been happening for centuries.” He sees it causes problems. “It causes a lot of nuisance and certainly care providers run a lot of risk.”
Van Oosterhout is promising that maintaining a ban must be arranged properly. He proposes to coordinate this at the European level. “Certainly because Emmen is a border municipality. It is not intended that the Dutch at the Aldi in Emlichheim buy fireworks for hundreds of euros and take it home without difficulty. Controls on the border, when it comes to fireworks, are part of it.”
The mayor hopes that the bill offers enough handles for enforcement. Then a fireworks ban would be accepted and complied with by most Dutch people, he suspects. “The smoking ban has also been said: that cannot be maintained. Just like with the mandatory wearing of a seat belt. But things like that go faster than you think. Although there will always be people who continue to do it illegally.”