A vast majority of European Union citizens are against switching between summer and winter time, according to the findings of an online survey presented by the European Commission.
More than 80% of the 4.6m people who took part in the survey – the largest online survey in EU history – are in favour of abolishing changing the clocks in summer and winter. The survey ran between July 4 and August 16.
Every year, EU member states put clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday of March and back again on the last Sunday in October.
As reported by Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster, the European parliament in February called for a review of the scheme, saying that summer time could have “negative consequences for human health”. The motion was tabled by Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Peter Liese, a German member of the European Parliament for Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s Christian Democrats, told Westfalenpost that the European Commission must take concrete measures to reconsider time change. “If the outcome of consultations is clear, the European bodies should not ignore it,” he said.
Liese said he was counting on a swift proposal by the European Commission at the end of summertime. “Thus the law could be passed prior to the European Parliament elections in May, next year,” he said.
The head of the German Christian Democrat group in the European Parliament, Daniel Caspary, said his party would back the abolition of changing the clocks.
“I see plenty of support for a regulation, that would introduce daylight saving time (summertime) the whole year round,” he told the news agency dpa.
Those against EU’s changing clocks argue that summer time hasn’t achieved what it promised. The European Commission has found that energy savings as a result of time changes have been minimal.
