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| Clock changes: EU backs ending daylight saving | Clock changes: EU backs ending daylight saving |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The EU Commission is proposing to end the practice of adjusting clocks by an hour in spring and autumn after a survey found most Europeans opposed it. | The EU Commission is proposing to end the practice of adjusting clocks by an hour in spring and autumn after a survey found most Europeans opposed it. |
| Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said millions "believe that in future, summer time should be year-round, and that's what will happen". | Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said millions "believe that in future, summer time should be year-round, and that's what will happen". |
| The Commission's proposal requires support from the 28 national governments and MEPs to become law. | The Commission's proposal requires support from the 28 national governments and MEPs to become law. |
| In the EU clocks switch between winter and summer under daylight saving time. | In the EU clocks switch between winter and summer under daylight saving time. |
| A European Parliament resolution says it is "crucial to maintain a unified EU time regime". | A European Parliament resolution says it is "crucial to maintain a unified EU time regime". |
| However, the Commission has not yet announced details of the proposed change. In a consultation paper it said one option would be to let each member state decide whether to go for permanent summer or winter time. | |
| But the Commission warns that uncoordinated time changes between member states would cause economic harm. | |
| In the survey, reported by German ZDF television, 80% of the 4.6 million respondents called for scrapping the spring and autumn clock change. | |
| The UK is one of the 28 nations, but is due to leave the European Union in March 2019. Any change would be unlikely to happen before then. | |
| Why do many dislike Europe's daylight saving time? | |
| Some studies cited by the Commission point to adverse health impacts from the clock changes. | |
| "Findings suggest that the effect on the human biorhythm may be more severe than previously thought," it says. | |
| Clocks go forward by an hour on the last Sunday in March and switch back to winter time on the last Sunday in October. | |
| Finland called for daylight saving to be abolished EU-wide, after a petition gathered more than 70,000 signatures from citizens calling for such a change. | |
| Daylight saving was introduced in 1980 based on the argument that it would reduce energy costs. But the Commission says the data on energy-saving is inconclusive. | |
| There is also no reliable evidence that the clock changes reduce traffic accidents, the Commission says. | |
| What are the EU's current time zones? | |
| There are three standard time zones: | |
| The current seasonal clock changes are controversial partly because there is a big difference in daylight hours experienced by Scandinavia and by southern Europe. | |
| Nordic countries have long, dark nights in winter and short nights in summer. The pattern in the south is more even across the seasons. | |
| There are anomalies too. For example, neighbours Portugal and Spain are in different time zones, as are Sweden and Finland. |