For the second time in a row, the turn of the year in Germany could be unusually calm. The sale of New Year’s fireworks is again prohibited. However, according to critics, this does not go far enough.
Berlin – Because of the corona pandemic, there is again a comprehensive sales ban on firecrackers in Germany on New Year’s Eve. According to the regulation that the Federal Council approved on Friday, as in the previous year, no fireworks may go over the shop counters.
The aim is to avoid accidents caused by the improper use of firecrackers and rockets and thus to protect hospitals that are already extremely stressed by Corona. With the decision of the Federal Council, a federal-state agreement was implemented at the beginning of December.
“The hospitals and medical practices have been under massive pressure from the pandemic for months,” Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said last week. “We now want to prevent any additional exposure and any avoidable medical emergency.” The regulation also states the justification: “A mere ban on burning pyrotechnic objects would not be sufficient.” Experience shows that the ban on use before and after New Year’s Eve is already regular will be subverted.
Firecrackers ban in central places
While the ordinance approved by the Federal Council only prohibits the sale of fireworks, numerous municipalities have also prohibited the burning of pyrotechnics in central locations. Such a firecracker ban applies at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz and in large parts of downtown Hamburg.
However, critics fear that illegal firecrackers will increasingly be smuggled in from neighboring countries such as Poland. The main customs office in Frankfurt (Oder) expects 2.5 to 3 tons of illegal fireworks by the end of the year – the so-called Polish fireworks are particularly dangerous.
The loss for the manufacturers of fireworks due to the sales ban is estimated in the regulation at 122 million euros. The Association of the Pyrotechnic Industry (VPI) had already spoken of a “death blow” for the entire industry in the run-up to the Federal Council’s decision. The 3,000 employees in Germany are threatened with unemployment.
For the time being, the sales ban only applies to the turn of the year, although environmental and animal welfare associations have been calling for a general ban on fireworks for years. In addition to the risk of injury, they argue, among other things, with the fine dust pollution, the fire hazard and the stress for animals. Amsterdam, for example, is a model, where bangs are now banned. dpa
