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.
When asked their opinion, eight in ten respondents were in favour of abolishing clock change.
An EU-wide public survey carried out this summer and answered by more than 4.6 million people – the highest number of respondents in any EU public consultation, ever – found that 84 percent of European citizens were in favour of doing away with the bi-yearly time changes.
Preliminary results further indicate 76 percent of respondents consider that changing the clock twice a year is a ‘very negative’ or ‘negative’ experience, invoking detrimental impacts on health, road safety and energy savings.
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 EU’s 28 national governments and MEPs to become law.
In Portugal, 34,000 people took part in the survey, an overall participation rate of 0.33 percent, and 85 percent of them voted in favour of ending clock changes.
At the top end of the spectrum, German nationals participated most actively in the survey, with 3.8 percent of Germany’s population taking part in the public consultation. At the other end of the spectrum is the UK, whose low participation rate would seemingly suggest Britons are poorly informed about or uninterested in the proposal.
European Commissioner Violeta Bulc reaffirmed that the results of the consultation show that the message is “very clear”.
“We will now act in accordance with this expressed will and prepare a legislative proposal to the European Parliament and the Council”, she said.
A European Parliament resolution says it is “crucial to maintain a unified EU time regime”.
In the EU, clocks switch between winter and summer under daylight saving time; famously, they “spring forward” in spring and “fall back” in autumn.
EC President Mr. Juncker had already said that Brussels would propose the end of the time change after that was the will expressed by a large majority of Europeans in the public consultation launched this summer.
A proposal will now be presented to European Parliament and the European Council, who will together decide on the matter.