Firework sellers fuming over damp squib compensation plan

Fireworks shops are not happy after being told they can claim compensation for lost income ahead of the upcoming ban on fireworks set for New Year’s Eve.

Retailers were told they’re entitled to compensation for lost profit if they sold fireworks for last New Year’s Eve and in at least one December before that. The payout will be based on how much stock they bought in a previous year.

National fireworks foundation Vuurwerkcheck has branded the compensation scheme “as limited as possible”, and reemphasised that it believes the ban will only fuel the trade in black market fireworks, which are often far more powerful and dangerous.

Frans Köhler, chairman of the foundation, said that retailers who rely on winter sales are heading for bankruptcy, and that some have to adapt their businesses to sell other produce, and were given only one year to do so. The cost of those adaptations will be far higher than the compensation, he told broadcaster NOS.

In April 2025, a parliamentary majority voted in favour of a total ban on consumer fireworks. The Senate also voted in favour in July that year, and the law came into force this August.

High powered fireworks, often obtained illegally abroad, cause serious injuries and damage each year. Last New Year’s Eve, 1,239 people were treated for fireworks injuries at A&E departments or out-of-hours GP posts, up 7% on the year before, according to safety institute VeiligheidNL.

At the last turn of the year, it is suspected that a firework may have burned down the 19th-century Vondelkerk in Amsterdam, though not enough forensic evidence could be found to prove this.