Daylight savings abolition one step closer after EU Parliament vote
Sunday, March 31st will see the clocks wound forward from 2am to 3am as summer time starts. Yet amid widespread support for adopting summer time all year ‘round, it might be one of the last times Germans wind back the clock.
The European Parliament’s Traffic Commission has voted 23 to 11 to abolish daylight savings in the EU, effective 2021.
The vote is not final however, with the Council of Member States still requiring a vote on the matter in order to get a Europe-wide consensus.
If the Council votes to abolish daylight savings, each member state will have to decide themselves whether or not to implement the change.
This could potentially be problematic, particularly in the case that some member states make the move and others decide against it.
Inconsistencies in international trade along with problems with air and rail traffic have been flagged as potentially problematic should only some European states make the shift.
As reported by The Local late in 2018, 84 percent of respondents to an online EU-wide survey were in favour of abolishing the time change. In total, 4.6 million respondents took part in the survey, of which three million were based in Germany.
The majority of EU member states are in the Central European Standard Time Zone, meaning the clocks from Berlin to Barcelona show the same time. Recent polls have indicated widespread support for ending the time changes.
SEE ALSO: Everything that changes in March 2019 in Germany.
Daylight savings time has been in place in the EU since 1996 and in Germany since 1980. Advocates for a change argue that setting the clock back or forward over each year contributes to confusion, poor health outcomes and energy wastage.
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The European Parliament’s Traffic Commission has voted 23 to 11 to abolish daylight savings in the EU, effective 2021.
The vote is not final however, with the Council of Member States still requiring a vote on the matter in order to get a Europe-wide consensus.
If the Council votes to abolish daylight savings, each member state will have to decide themselves whether or not to implement the change.
This could potentially be problematic, particularly in the case that some member states make the move and others decide against it.
Inconsistencies in international trade along with problems with air and rail traffic have been flagged as potentially problematic should only some European states make the shift.
As reported by The Local late in 2018, 84 percent of respondents to an online EU-wide survey were in favour of abolishing the time change. In total, 4.6 million respondents took part in the survey, of which three million were based in Germany.
The majority of EU member states are in the Central European Standard Time Zone, meaning the clocks from Berlin to Barcelona show the same time. Recent polls have indicated widespread support for ending the time changes.
SEE ALSO: Everything that changes in March 2019 in Germany.
Daylight savings time has been in place in the EU since 1996 and in Germany since 1980. Advocates for a change argue that setting the clock back or forward over each year contributes to confusion, poor health outcomes and energy wastage.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px}
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