The cabinet is planning to scrap formal fire-safety permits for bars and cafés as part of its efforts to reduce bureaucracy, the Volkskrant reports this morning. The paper used freedom-of- information legislation to get hold of the new regulations.

The paper reports that the environment and planning ministry (Vrom) thinks 80% to 90% of the licences required by bars and cafés are unnecessary. Instead, the hotel and catering sector will become responsible for its own fire safety standards.
After the Volendam café fire in 2000, when 11 young people died at in a fire on New Year’s Eve, there were calls for much tighter regulations.
Now, the Volkskrant says, safety regulations are to be harmonised nationwide. Permits will only apply to company premises where more than 10 people sleep or which are used by more than 10 mentally-handicapped people or children.