In the night of October 30th, the clocks in Germany are switched back to winter time. When it comes to this topic, some people will ask themselves: “Time change – shouldn’t it actually be abolished?”
And the memory does not deceive. Since 2018 there have been serious efforts and first decisions to standardize the times again. But nothing has happened in this matter for more than three years. regionalHeute.de got to the bottom of the matter.
The discussion about the meaning and effects of the time change has probably been around for as long as it has been practiced. Over the years, doubts have grown about the energy savings that the measure was originally intended to achieve.
And why should people go to the trouble of changing all the clocks twice a year and getting used to the new time if there is no clear benefit? On the contrary, the reports of health disadvantages increased – keyword jetlag.
In 2018, efforts to abolish the time change became concrete. In an online survey initiated by the European Commission, 84 percent voted for abolition.
In Germany, almost 3.8 percent of the population took part in the survey, which represented the highest participation in Europe.
“In September 2018, the Commission proposed to end the seasonal time changes,” reports Nikola John, press officer of the EU Commission, at the request of regionalHeute.de.
The proposal has also followed requests from citizens and Member States, as well as a number of studies carried out and a public consultation.
Member States should decide for themselves whether they want to keep summer or winter time permanently in order to avoid fragmentation.
In March 2019, the European Parliament supported the Commission’s proposal. “The ball is now in the Member States’ hands, as it is up to them to find a common position in the Council,” explains Nikola John.
And that’s where the ball still lies today, as a question to the European Council, the body of the heads of state and government of the European Union, revealed.
“There is no news on the matter. The Council has not yet formed a position on the Commission’s proposal. Before the proposal becomes an EU law, the Council and Parliament must of course also agree and go through a proper legislative procedure.
The European Council last discussed the topic in December 2019. The decision to end the daylight saving time change has so many and varied implications that many Member States feel that the Commission needs to carry out an impact assessment before forming an opinion.
Another frequently mentioned problem is the need to coordinate this issue between neighboring countries in order to avoid a patchwork of different time zones when abandoning the existing system, the Council also said.
The country holding the EU presidency decides which proposals will be placed on the Council’s agenda. The time change proposal is not part of the program of the current Czech Presidency.
Sweden takes over the presidency on January 1st. His work program for the first half of 2023 has not yet been presented there. So it looks like the time change will remain in place for the time being.
This article was written by Alexander Dontscheff
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The original of this post “Abolition of the time change: This is the current status” comes from regionalHeute.de.
