The Polish presidency of the EU Council will hold technical discussions with member states in late April to explore the possibility of abandoning the biannual clock change, Polish news agency PAP reported citing EU sources.
The discussion has been renewed just ahead of a change that will take place across the bloc on the night of March 29 and March 30. In Poland, which lies in the Central European time zone (GMT +1), the clocks will be moved by one hour forward, from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., on Sunday.
EU member states coordinate their change to daylight saving time on the last weekend of March, and back to standard time on the last weekend of October.
The planned talks are intended to help the Polish presidency assess whether continuing work on the topic makes sense and to determine the chance for an agreement within the bloc.
On Thursday, the European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen urged the Polish presidency to commence discussions, saying: “We believe that a coordinated solution on this issue is achievable.”
In 2018, the European Commission proposed a directive to eliminate the clock change but member states have yet to agree on whether there is any interest on this matter. Additionally, if there is support to scrap it, would winter or summer time be permanently adopted.
Reports from Brussels show the European Commission has not withdrawn its proposal but will now leave the decision-making process to the member states.
However, the push for the abolition continues. Irish MEP Seán Kelly, who is one of the most vocal proponents of ditching the clock change, said there is a “huge amount of evidence” to support his claim.
“[it] is bad for human health, bad for animals, bad for road traffic, and has very little beneficial attributes. And it's also a huge inconvenience,” Kelly said, France24 reported. “So I think the time has come to say bye-bye.”
EU member states coordinate their change to daylight saving time on the last weekend of March, and back to standard time on the last weekend of October.
The planned talks are intended to help the Polish presidency assess whether continuing work on the topic makes sense and to determine the chance for an agreement within the bloc.
On Thursday, the European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen urged the Polish presidency to commence discussions, saying: “We believe that a coordinated solution on this issue is achievable.”
In 2018, the European Commission proposed a directive to eliminate the clock change but member states have yet to agree on whether there is any interest on this matter. Additionally, if there is support to scrap it, would winter or summer time be permanently adopted.
Reports from Brussels show the European Commission has not withdrawn its proposal but will now leave the decision-making process to the member states.
However, the push for the abolition continues. Irish MEP Seán Kelly, who is one of the most vocal proponents of ditching the clock change, said there is a “huge amount of evidence” to support his claim.
“[it] is bad for human health, bad for animals, bad for road traffic, and has very little beneficial attributes. And it's also a huge inconvenience,” Kelly said, France24 reported. “So I think the time has come to say bye-bye.”
He also called on the EU to agree on a target date to abolish the practice in the same way it had set objectives for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Poland’s Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Paszyk told PAP that he had spoken about the issue with the EU’s commissioner responsible for transportation, Apostolos Tzitzikostas.
“We both agree that Europe should abolish the clock change,” Paszyk said, adding that Tzitzikostas expressed his full support for following through with the initiative.
According to Paszyk, there were no fact-based arguments for keeping the clock change, and its scrapping was halted by the “bureaucracy of Brussels.”
Debates regarding the clock change have persisted in the EU for years.
Public consultations conducted by the European Commission in 2018 showed that 84% of Europeans favored abolishing the clock change.
In 2019, the European Parliament backed the ditching of the semi-annual clock change, but the debate stalled due to EU member states being split on the preference for either winter or summer time.
A survey conducted that year by Polish CBOS pollsters showed that 74% of Poles preferred to remain on summer daylight saving time.
Polish Presidency and EC in agreement
Poland’s Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Paszyk told PAP that he had spoken about the issue with the EU’s commissioner responsible for transportation, Apostolos Tzitzikostas.
“We both agree that Europe should abolish the clock change,” Paszyk said, adding that Tzitzikostas expressed his full support for following through with the initiative.
According to Paszyk, there were no fact-based arguments for keeping the clock change, and its scrapping was halted by the “bureaucracy of Brussels.”
Debates regarding the clock change have persisted in the EU for years.
Public consultations conducted by the European Commission in 2018 showed that 84% of Europeans favored abolishing the clock change.
In 2019, the European Parliament backed the ditching of the semi-annual clock change, but the debate stalled due to EU member states being split on the preference for either winter or summer time.
A survey conducted that year by Polish CBOS pollsters showed that 74% of Poles preferred to remain on summer daylight saving time.
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