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On Sunday, the clocks will be turned back by one hour on October 31. But shouldn’t the time change already be history? And what will happen to daylight saving time in the future?
In the midst of the still rampant Corona crisis, daylight saving time ends on October 31. The hands of the clocks will be turned back to 2:00 and thus to standard time in Europe at 3:00. Otherwise always good for discussions, the excitement was limited this time – mankind is currently dealing with more pressing issues, the pandemic and climate protection. That’s why it’s still completely unclear what will happen to the time changeover in the EU.
No vote yet on abolishing daylight saving time
The ball is still in the court of the EU Council of Ministers, which last discussed the abolition of the twice-yearly time change in June 2019, the transport ministers are responsible. The European Parliament had voted in March 2019 with a large majority for the abolition of daylight saving time as of 2021 – or a year later, if there should be difficulties for the single market. However, a majority of member states still have to agree to this for it to become a reality. It is still unclear when the vote will take place, EU Council circles told APA.
The process of abolition was triggered by an EU-wide online survey. In this 84 percent of the participants had spoken out in favor of an end to the time changeover. Most voted in favor of permanent daylight saving time in 2018. 4.6 million responses were received, including three million from Germany alone – a record, but still less than one percent of EU citizens.
Time changeover should be abolished as early as 2019
The EU Commission had then proposed abolishing the change between summer and winter time from 2019. Instead, countries should be able to decide for themselves whether they want to have summer or winter time permanently. But objections to this plan came from many countries, since, among other things, a uniform time zone seems desirable for the economy, at least in Central Europe. Otherwise, interstate time differences would affect trade even more. Official Austria prefers permanent daylight saving time as standard time. Not least because of the Corona pandemic, however, the issue of time change took a back seat in the EU.
Throughout the EU, the clock was previously turned on the last Sunday in March – and back again on the last Sunday in October. Daylight saving time was introduced in Europe in 1973 in response to the oil crisis and with the aim of saving energy. The time shift was intended to gain an hour of daylight for businesses and households. France made the beginning at that time.
Time change in Austria last introduced in 1979
Austria decided to introduce it only in 1979 because of administrative problems and because they wanted harmonization with Switzerland and Germany in terms of traffic. These two countries did not introduce daylight saving time until 1980. However, summer time had already existed in the Alpine republic during the First World War. In 1916, it was in effect for the monarchy from May 1 to September 30, but was then discontinued. A second – permanently unsuccessful – attempt was made between 1940 and 1948.
-source:vienna.at/picture:pixabay.com
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