The time change remains: EU member states hesitate to make the decision!

The time change remains: EU member states hesitate to make the decision!

In the night of March 30, the clocks in Europe are presented again at 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. and thus the summer time is officially heralded - a procedure that has been introduced for energy saving since 1973. Despite a proposal to abolish this time change in 2018, there is no agreement among the Member States. Austria favors a permanent summer time to avoid watchchaos, as krone.at . In an online survey, 84 percent of the participants spoke out for an end to the time change, but the question of uniform time zones remains in space.

The earlier introduction of summer time in countries such as Italy and France (from 1966 and 1967) is in contrast to Germany, where the time change has only been practiced regularly since 1980. The reason for this decision is the upheavals during the oil crisis, which required a rethink to better exploit of the daylight, so mdr.de . However, critics question the necessity and the positive effects of the time change, since the desired savings effect can hardly be verified and health concerns due to the disruption of the biorhythm will encourage them.

political standards and possible regulations

A European legislative proposal to abolish the time change has been waiting for a decision for years. For the last time, a Council of Minister in December 2019 was controversial with the topic. It remains to be seen whether the member states can agree on a uniform regulation or whether different time zones remain - which could be problematic for business relationships in Central Europe, for example.

The annual change of time not only represents a challenge for the citizens, but also raises numerous questions regarding the political will formation of the EU member states. So will the time change continue to keep a permanent place in the European calendar - or will soon be a fundamental reform?