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European Union to Consider Abolishing Daylight Saving Time

News
by Eben Diskin Sep 5, 2018

The EU government may not be powerful enough to make it summer time all year round, but it can easily make the winter months a lot more bearable for the 28 countries of the union.

Since 1996, EU countries have moved clocks forward one hour in March, and back one hour in October, but that may soon be coming to an end. Constituents in the EU have long asked for daylight saving to be abolished, which would result in clocks not being turned back in the winter, and, on Friday, the European Commission officially decided to pressure the EU parliament and member states to abolish daylight saving.

The European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the German ZDF network that “the people want that, and we will make it happen,” citing widespread support for the new time policy. EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc echoed that sentiment, claiming that 84 percent of the 4.6 million who took part in the EU Commission’s consultation are in favor of the proposal. The EU Parliament and member states would still need to approve the new policy, and may impose other changes to the system as well.

The time shift would mean darker mornings, but that seems to be a sacrifice EU citizens are willing to make for brighter and longer evenings.

There are, however, some potential complications that could result from the time change. It could mean that non-EU member Northern Ireland would run on a different time than the Republic of Ireland for seven months out of the year. The same could also be true of mainland Britain after Brexit. These are not insurmountable obstacles to the policy’s passage, but could generate some stubborn opposition, or affect the smoothness of the process.

H/T: CBC News

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