Daylight saving time starts again at the end of March

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Every six months, the groundhog greets the groundhog: on the last Sunday of the month, on the night of 30 March, summertime starts again this year. The hands will move forward by 2.00 to 3.00 a.m. in Europe. A proposal to end this procedure has been on the table in the EU for seven years, but there is still no agreement. After all, Brussels and the European capitals seem to have quite different concerns.

The corresponding Commission proposal from 2018 was already approved by the EU Parliament in spring 2019. Since then, however, the ball has been in the court of the Council, i.e., the EU Member States, which have not decided then. However, most member states would have to agree to the abolition. The last time a Council of Ministers discussed the time change was in December 2019, when Finland held the presidency. The EU Parliament has already approved the corresponding Commission proposal for 2018.

Intergovernmental clock chaos would be imminent
The European Commission’s proposal envisages no more time changes. However, each EU member state would decide whether to switch to summer or winter time throughout the year. Many countries have reservations about this plan, as a uniform time zone seems desirable for the economy, at least in Central Europe. Otherwise, clock chaos between countries could cause problems. Incidentally, official Austria prefers a permanent summer time as standard time.

An EU-wide (non-representative) online survey triggered the abolition process. In this survey, 84% of participants voted to end the time change. Most voted in favor of permanent summertime 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.

Introduced in 1973 during the oil crisis
Throughout the EU, the clock used to be turned back 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 to save energy. The time shift was intended to gain an hour of daylight for businesses and households. France was the first country to do so.

Austria only introduced daylight saving time in 1979 due to administrative problems and the desire to harmonize with Switzerland and Germany. These two countries did not introduce summertime until 1980. However, summertime had already been introduced in the Alpine Republic during the First World War. In 1916, it was in force for the monarchy from 1 May to 30 September but was then discontinued. A second—permanently unsuccessful—attempt was made between 1940 and 1948.