Plenary wants to abolish seasonal clock change in 2021

The European Parliament is forcing Member States to take action to abolish the seasonal time change. Today, a large majority voted in favour of the Transport and Tourism’s proposal to abolish the seasonal clock change in 2021. It is up to the Member States to choose between summer or standard time. Those choosing summer time should do the switch on the last Sunday in March 2021. Countries that prefer to keep the standard time may do so from the last Sunday in October 2021.

“We have done our work, now it is up to the Member States to find a common approach to this issue as quickly as possible. Citizens are telling us that they are tired of changing time twice a year, they no longer want to confuse their biorhythms. We have to take this very seriously - especially the warnings from doctors about health hazards caused by the bi-annual time change”, said Czech MEP Pavel Svoboda, responsible for the issue on behalf of the EPP Group. “It is widely known that the introduction of the time change years ago did not lead to the expected benefits, such as energy savings. On the contrary, there are indications that it has been detrimental to human health. The EPP Group therefore urges the Member States to agree to abolish the seasonal clock change in 2021”, Svoboda added.

According to the outcome of today’s vote, the Member States should notify the European Commission by 1 April 2020 at the latest if they intend to change their standard time. Before that, a coordination mechanism will be installed in order to make sure that Member States make their decision in a coordinated and concerted manner. It will consist of one representative for each Member State and one of the Commission. “If we coordinate, we can find a good solution for all Member States. The aim must be to avoid significant disruptions in the functioning of the internal market because of time differences, for example with timetables in the transport sector or flight schedules for airlines”, Svoboda stated.

Should significant problems arise because of the time arrangements notified by the Member States, the European Commission is empowered to trigger a 12-month delay of the legislation in order to change it to deal with the problems.

In an online consultation by the European Commission conducted last year, more than 80 percent of the participants expressed their support for abolishing seasonal clock change.