“Setting the record”: this is the desire of many European citizens, but also what to do overnight from Saturday to Sunday. Clocks and watches must be set back one hour at 03:00. To save energy, the time change was first implemented after the First World War, then in 1976. Its extension to the European Union (EU) dates from 2001. Despite the gain of an extra hour of sunshine in the summer, there is a great debate about whether the measure must be maintained. Various citizens’ petitions even call for an end to the time change in the EU countries.

Karima Delli, Green MEP and chairman of the Committee on Transport and Tourism in the European Parliament, recalls: “When the system was created in 1976, they did not ask the opinion of the citizens, they are heard, and they say no”. After a first vote in 2017, MEPs are asking for the public’s opinion on the issue. The Commission is therefore organizing a major European consultation in the summer of 2018. With 4.6 million responses, it is the consultation of the Commission that attracts the most participants. “It’s an electric shock. 80% of those questioned ask for the time change to be stopped”, confirms Karima Delli.

The Commission proposed a directive that member states could choose to make a final time change in the spring or autumn of 2019. The EU Parliament ruled in March 2019: “States must not apply changes seasonally to their legal time”. MEPs ask the Council to implement a coordination mechanism. Thus states had to make their last time change no later than the last Sunday in October 2021.

“The council must wake up” for Karima Delli

But for 3 years it is the status quo. After the commission and parliament, it is up to the council to vote for the directive to be adopted in full. The MEP explains that it is the choice between summer time or winter time as the final time that blocks the implementation of the directive. However, time coordination is essential. The aim is to avoid a patchwork of timetables in the EU which would complicate the exchange.

Another obstacle: the Council’s legal department laments the lack of studies on the effects of time changes across Europe. “Investigations are not done because it is not a priority for governments. It is a democratic failure”, indignant Karima Delli. For the MEP, the work in parliament is done. It is up to the council to “launch the investigations that it has committed to” to”.

No real energy savings and negative effects on health?

If so far there are no studies directed by the EU, there are, however, national ones. The Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe) thus showed in 2015 that the summer time scheme has a positive effect with a decrease of 3.5 GW in electricity demand in 2009 and expects a decrease of 2 GW in 2030. However, these results should be handled with caution, as questions remain about changes in national demand and the increasing use of heat.

The Office of Technology Assessment of the German Bundestag (TAB) has, for its part, carried out a more comprehensive study, which the European Parliament relied on in 2017. According to the deputies who have consulted this report, the application of the change time does not seem to be a problem in transport or agriculture, the results of road safety research are not decisive, the effects on energy savings are marginal. However, the Danish Parliament notes possible health effects. “We notice insomnia, sleep disturbances and cardiovascular effects”, details Karima Delli. It also causes problems with road safety or stress in animals.

For the chosen one, the evidence of the problems created by the time change is there. “If the council does not want to do anything, the parliament and the commission will again launch a decision: you cannot lie to the people a second time”, warns Karima Delli.

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