What does the fireworks ban cost? 895 million, says the sector itself

A national ban on the lighting of fireworks by consumers has come a lot closer. DInsdag announced NSC behind an initiative bill from GroenLinks-PvdA and the Party for the Animals in Scharenwith which the coalition party helps the fireworks ban on a majority. Last week the VVD also decided to support the ban.

The parliament debates the fireworks ban on Thursday, after which voting will be made next Tuesday. In the run-up to the debate, PVV State Secretary for Public Transport and the Environment Chris Jansen sent an estimate of the compensation costs to the Lower House.

Depending on when the prohibition actually starts, Jansen comes to a compensation of between 0 and 150 million euros. Interest association Pyrotechniek Nederland (BPN) comes out on a compensation amount of 895 million euros, so much higher. What do those differences come through?

Constructed

If the coming New Year is already forbidden to set off fireworks, State Secretary Jansen thinks to be a compensation amount of between 100 million and 150 million euros. That is a reimbursement for the income that will be lost in 2025 and 2026 and a compensation for costs that have already been incurred, such as fireworks that have already been purchased.

If the prohibition will only apply around New Year’s Eve 2026, the compensation according to the State Secretary will be around 50 million euros. That is primarily an allowance for the missing sales next year. With a later effective date of the prohibition, compensation is unlikely, Jansen writes: then it can be seen as (forbidden) state aid.

Last New Year, according to BPN, a record amount was sold for 118 million euros in fireworks. The trade association finds the amount of the State Secretary far too low. « We were also shocked when we list the costs of a direct fireworks ban, » says Leo Groeneveld of the interest group. « The stock that is already in the Netherlands and is still on the road must be destroyed in the event of a prohibition. That must be done by a specialized company and only for the destruction the costs are already 250 million euros. »

The destruction of the stored fireworks alone costs 250 million euros

Full compensation

The BPN sums also include the costs incurred for building safe storage spaces for fireworks and the tests that were done before new fireworks products could come on the market. « Every company has a value, » says Groeneveld. « If you as a firework company are no longer allowed to sell fireworks, that value will be zero in one go. That 895 million euros is a complete compensation that takes into account that fireworks companies are worth nothing. » With that amount, according to the interest group, entrepreneurs get the opportunity to build something new with their staff and their buildings. « 

It is not very likely that the fireworks industry can actually expect such a high amount of compensation. At the request of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, BPN has listed the cost items in a fireworks ban. The ministry subsequently tested it « legally and in a policy -wise ».

It is not the first time that the sale of a certain product is prohibited. Since July 1, last year, supermarkets are no longer allowed to sell cigarettes and packages of shag. They received no compensation for that, among other things because the sales ban had been announced a long time in advance.

High entrepreneurial risk

State Secretary Jansen seems to view the fireworks ban in a similar way. According to him, there is « a major entrepreneurial risk in this industry » – risk that companies themselves are supported. After all, the discussion about a national fireworks ban has been going on for years, with the social support for a ban increased over the years. « That means that the possibility of a prohibition was foreseeable in a certain sense, » writes the State Secretary in his letter.

The fireworks industry can be divided into points of sale and importers. The approximately 850 points of sale often do fireworks in addition to their regular business activities – garden centers, for example, or bicycle shops. The number of sales points has been falling since 2004, when stricter rules started to apply around the storage and sale of fireworks. According to BPN, there were then around a thousand fireworks stores.

« Selling fireworks is a nice extra for us, but we can also do without, » says Fabian Klinkenberg. His family has a wholesaler and web store in Japanese crockery. For seventeen years he has also been set up a fireworks store around the turn of the New Year around the turn of the warehouse. A ban had been in the air for years. If you are a bit smart, you take that into account. « 

« A compensation of once the annual turnover seems realistic to sellers, » says Klinkenberg. He understands that the approximately ten fireworks importers and wholesalers who have the Netherlands expect more compensation. For them, fireworks are the core of their company, which makes them harder by a ban.

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