EU set to end switch between summer and winter time: Juncker
BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union’s chief executive said on Friday the bloc was set to end the practice of switching between summer and winter time after a survey found most EU citizens against the practice.
FILE PHOTO: A giant sculpture constructed with the faces of clocks is seen outside a Paris train station, March 27, 2009 on the weekend when France moves its clocks forward one hour early Sunday morning, marking daylight savings time. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo
More than 80 percent of EU citizens wanted to abolish the EU’s switch and favored keeping the time used in summer for the whole year, Jean-Claude Juncker said on German television, adding he would put the plan to a debate among EU commissioners.
“We will decide that today,” Juncker said. “Millions ... believe that summertime should be all the time.”
Any change would still need approval from national governments and European Parliament to become law.
EU law requires that citizens in all 28 EU countries move their clocks an hour forward on the last Sunday in March and switch back to winter time on the final Sunday in October.
But Finland, with the most northerly EU national capital, this year called for the EU to halt the practice, which critics say it can cause long-term health problems, especially among young children and elderly people.
Research has shown that the time change disrupts sleep schedules and can impact productivity at work.
Supporters say making the switch to give extra morning daylight in winter and evening light in summer can help reduce traffic accidents and save energy.
Outside the EU, a handful of European countries have stopped switching between summer and winter time, including Russia, Turkey, Belarus and Iceland.
Reporting by Gernot Heller and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Edmund Blair
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