Either way, the time change is not the most popular with Europeans. In 2018, 84% of them spoke out against this measure taken in 1916 on French territory, at the time for reasons of energy saving.
In 2019, the European Parliament had approved the idea of staying on summer time all year roundin accordance with the wishes of 54% of the European population. After a hundred petitions on the subject, the bill finally landed on the table of the European Council, without ever leaving it. An impact study has been requested on the subject, but the twenty-seven members of the Council cannot agree on the procedure to follow. Neither winter time nor summer time can reach consensus, and only a unanimous decision can resolve the problem.
Europe must agree
Currently, 70 countries around the world – most of them European – practice time change. The old continent is home to three time zones, and a directive from 2001 had already made it possible to harmonize the annual change dates by focusing on the last Sundays of March and October. In the European free trade area, this synchronization between countries is particularly importantparticularly for the question of rail and air transport.
Among the countries concerned, not all are in the same boat: the Earth rotates on an inclined axis, the times of sunrise and sunset vary drastically from one State to another. Countries located in the North are already experiencing profound changes in rhythm between winter and summer, while those located further south benefit from a lesser impact. Thus, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus have already affirmed their disinterest in the subject, while Germany and Finland, conversely, have been calling for the abolition of the time change for years.
Faced with the inaction of the Council, the pressure increases around the time change. French MEP Karima Delli (EELV), president of the Transport and Tourism Committee, thus qualified the tool “obsolete”, before indicating that if States did not take their responsibilities, “the European Parliament will call on the Council to find a solution before the end of the mandate“It must be admitted that this ultimatum, issued in 2022, did not have the desired effect, and that the debate is still at a standstill.
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