Some 44 members of the European Parliament from 15 different EU countries and six political groups have called on EU transport ministers to break the deadlock and get the plan to end the seasonal changing of the clocks moving again.
In the middle of the night on Saturday 24th, people across Europe will once again turn the clocks back by one hour, ending daylight saving time. This means that people will gain an hour of sleep – which they had lost when turning the clocks forward in March.
The practice was introduced to save energy following the 1970s oil crisis. Since 2001, an EU directive obliges EU member states to act at the same time, moving the clocks forward by one hour on the last Sunday of March and backward on the last Sunday of October, to avoid changing time on different dates, with complications for transport, communications and cross-border activities.
READ MORE: Whatever happened to the EU’s plan to stop changing the clocks?
In 2018, the European Commission launched a public consultation asking people their views on abolishing time changes. Some 4.6 million people responded, the most successful EU consultation ever, and 84 percent agreed with the idea to scrap the changing of the clocks.
In September 2018 the Commission therefore proposed legislation to put an end on seasonal clock changes. This had to be approved by the European Parliament and by national governments represented at the EU Council.
The European Parliament in 2019 supported the proposal by a large majority. But EU governments failed to reach an agreement. Should summertime or wintertime become the norm? How to coordinate the change among neighbouring countries to avoid a patchwork of different time zones? And who would benefit the most?
Last year, Spain revived the discussion, backed by Poland and Finland, but other Member States remained unconvinced.
On Tuesday, a group of MEPs addressed a letter to the transport ministers of the 27 EU countries asking them to break the deadlock and “finally get the negotiations in the Council… moving again”.
The letter was spearheaded by German MEP Peter Liese.
He said the lack of an agreement among countries “is irresponsible and shows once again that problems which people across Europe are concerned about are often not caused by the European institutions, but by those responsible in the Member States.”
“For eight years, Member States have used the lack of an impact assessment as an excuse for failing to act on the proposal. I believe this argument is a pretext. Nevertheless, it is good that the new study is finally coming,” he added.
A study commissioned by the EU executive on the impact of abolishing seasonal clock changes should be completed by the end of the year.
Liese, who is a medical doctor, also noted that health effects of changing the clocks twice a year include “sleep disturbances, fatigue and difficulties concentrating”. Recent studies also questioned the extent of energy savings achieved with the practice.
“There is no sensible reason to disrupt the daily rhythm of millions of people twice a year. Those responsible must finally take action,” he argued.
“We recognise that any solution must be carefully coordinated between Member States, particularly to avoid unnecessary complications for transport, cross-border activities and the functioning of the internal market. However, we firmly believe that all these challenges can be overcome if there is sufficient political will and close coordination between Member States,” the letter states.
