Sweden could finally scrap historic ban on spontaneous dancing
Sweden's new justice minister has said that his officials are preparing a new bill which will finally scrap the country's ban on dancing in bars and restaurants without a permit.
Politicians have been trying to do away with the widely ridiculed rule for decades, with no fewer than 20 motions to abolish it put forward by members of parliament between 2011 and 2014, leading in 2016 to the parliament voting in favour of repealing the rule.
But the then Social Democrat-led government never implemented the change
First a government inquiry concluded in 2018 that the ban served a useful safety function, so should be changed rather than repealed, then the arrival of the pandemic put the proposal on the back burner, meaning restaurant owners continue to be fined by police for allowing unauthorised dancing.
"If I had to choose a law that should be removed, it is the one about the dance permit," Sweden's justice minister Gunnar Strömmer told the state broadcaster SVT this week. "But legislative work is underway and it will probably be ready to go quite soon."
READ ALSO:
- Sweden's dancing ban: 'The entire world is laughing at us'
- Sweden urged to scrap historic ban on spontaneous dancing once and for all
Lars Püss, a Moderate Party MP from Halmstad, who has written three of the motions to repeal the law, told SVT that it was "insane".
"People are happy and having a good time and take a few dance steps and there you lose your livelihood," he said.
The Social Democrats are the only party in the Swedish parliament whose MPs have never pushed to repeal the law, although a party official told SVT that it was not against a repeal in principle.
The reason the party had not implemented the 2016 parliamentary vote while in government was because it had had so many other priorities, first with the Covid-19 pandemic and then with putting through legislation to fight gang crime.
"There were, for example, about 80 tougher penalties and several investments in the police. Now it is up to the new government to put forward a proposal on the issue," the spokesperson told SVT.
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Politicians have been trying to do away with the widely ridiculed rule for decades, with no fewer than 20 motions to abolish it put forward by members of parliament between 2011 and 2014, leading in 2016 to the parliament voting in favour of repealing the rule.
But the then Social Democrat-led government never implemented the change
First a government inquiry concluded in 2018 that the ban served a useful safety function, so should be changed rather than repealed, then the arrival of the pandemic put the proposal on the back burner, meaning restaurant owners continue to be fined by police for allowing unauthorised dancing.
"If I had to choose a law that should be removed, it is the one about the dance permit," Sweden's justice minister Gunnar Strömmer told the state broadcaster SVT this week. "But legislative work is underway and it will probably be ready to go quite soon."
READ ALSO:
- Sweden's dancing ban: 'The entire world is laughing at us'
- Sweden urged to scrap historic ban on spontaneous dancing once and for all
Lars Püss, a Moderate Party MP from Halmstad, who has written three of the motions to repeal the law, told SVT that it was "insane".
"People are happy and having a good time and take a few dance steps and there you lose your livelihood," he said.
The Social Democrats are the only party in the Swedish parliament whose MPs have never pushed to repeal the law, although a party official told SVT that it was not against a repeal in principle.
The reason the party had not implemented the 2016 parliamentary vote while in government was because it had had so many other priorities, first with the Covid-19 pandemic and then with putting through legislation to fight gang crime.
"There were, for example, about 80 tougher penalties and several investments in the police. Now it is up to the new government to put forward a proposal on the issue," the spokesperson told SVT.
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