Thread: Daylight saving ends in Europe,

.......................................... in what could be the last time the continent turns back the clocks.


A survey found 84 per cent were in favour of the daylight saving time change being abolished


Daylight saving time will end around Europe on Sunday, in what could be the last time the clocks go back an hour on the continent.

Key points:

• European Council recommended member states stop changing clocks in spring and autumn
• Survey shows most Europeans want the time change abolished
• A clear majority want "permanent summertime" to be imposed

For the past 16 years the summertime change has been regulated by the European Union (EU) directive 2000/84/EC, which states the switchover dates are the last weekend of March and the last weekend of October.

But last August, the European Council recommended EU member states stop changing the clocks in spring and autumn and use summertime for the whole year.
It came after 4.6 million people from EU countries replied to a public consultation on the summertime arrangement, with 84 per cent of those wanting the time change to be abolished.

The clear majority of those people would prefer "permanent summertime", while 36 per cent were in favour of "permanent standard time".

"We carried out a survey, millions responded and believe that in future, summertime should be year-round, and that's what will happen," EU president Jean-Claude Juncker told the German broadcaster ZDF in August.

"I will recommend to the commission that, if you ask the citizens, then you have to do what the citizens say.
"We will decide on this today, and then it will be the turn of the member states and the European Parliament."
The measure still needs to be approved by the European Parliament, and member states would then have the choice to opt out of the time change.

Currently there are three time zones in the EU: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is used by the UK, Ireland and Portugal; Central Europe Time (CET), which 17 EU member states use and is an hour ahead of GMT; and Eastern European time, which is used in eight states and is two hours ahead of GMT.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

The clear majority of those people would prefer "permanent summertime", while 36 per cent were in favour of "permanent standard time".

The number of participants were not very high, for some reason heavily germans voting, other nationalities much less. I voted for permanent summer time. However Spain mostly is objecting because it woud be very far from their local time, I understand that argument. I would be very happy with both as long as time changes stop.