Should The European Union Abandon Daylight Saving Time?

Even though it was originally meant as an energy-saving measure to switch on street and road lights only when absolutely necessary, should the EU abandon Daylight Saving Time because of “debatable benefits”?

By: Ringo Bones

The EU is set to end the “quaint” practice of changing our clocks twice a year – i.e. Daylight Saving Time – in 2021, at least in some states. The European Parliament has taken another step towards freeing members of the bloc from the mandated change, but why is it taking too long? European Union spokesperson Alexander Winterstein has been the most vocal opponent of the EU still adhering to the “quaint practice” of Daylight Saving Time and legend has it that it was only as a bit of fun when that late-rising American statesman Benjamin Franklin proposed daylight savings time back in 1784 and for more than two centuries, it has been a topic of controversy.

The UK adopted Daylight Saving Time in 1916 along with many other nations involved in World War One in order to conserve coal used for electricity generation. It followed years of pressure from William Willett - the great, great grandfather of Coldplay singer Chris Martin, but the UK had its own debate about time zones. In 2011, Number 10 Downing Street proposed a three-year trial of moving to Central European Time, so the UK time would be GMT+1 in winter and GMT+2 in summer months. The change would have meant lighter evenings but darker mornings and one of the arguments for it was that it would reduce road accidents. But it was abandoned after opposition from Scotland and northern England, where some areas would not have seen daylight until 10 o’clock in the morning under the proposal.

Back around the end of August 2018, European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said millions “believe that in future, summer time should be year-round, and that’s what will happen.” The EU Commissioner’s proposal requires support from the 28 national governments and MEP’s to become law. In the EU, clocks switch between winter and summer under Daylight Saving Time. In a recent EU-wide public consultation, 84-percent of the 4.6-million respondents called for the ending of the spring and autumn clock change. By far, the biggest response was in Germany (3.79-percent) and Austria (2.94-percent) of the national population respectively. The UK’s response was the lowest at 0.02-percent, but few Italians took part either with only 0.04-percent taking part. Most Europeans dislike the practice of Daylight Saving Time because some recent studies cited by the European Commission point to adverse health impacts from the clock changes as findings suggest that the effect on the human biorhythm may be more than severe than previously thought as clocks go forward by an hour on the last Sunday in March and switch back to winter time on the last Sunday in October.