EC launches public consultation on daylight saving time

The European Commission began on Thursday soliciting opinions on daylight saving time, contemplating whether to scrap the biannual daylight saving rules.

The public consultation comes after a number of requests from citizens, the European Parliament, and certain EU Member States.

For years, clocks in the European Union has been put forward by an hour between March and October. But opposition to the practice has been gaining momentum, with the European Parliament in February called on the Commission to conduct a thorough assessment and, if necessary, to table a proposal to revise it.

Finland has asked that the bi-annual time switch be abandoned and Lithuania has called for a review of the current system in order to take into account regional and geographical differences.

Many studies in terms of the current time arrangements remain inconclusive, the European Commission said, while "chronobiologic research findings suggest that the effect on the human biorhythm may be more severe than previously thought".

Earlier, in December 2017 Finland raised the issue of the proposed ban on changing clocks for the summer time (daylight saving time) during the policy debate at the EU Telecommunications Council and the EU Transport Council.

Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner represented Finland at the meetings.

“A discussion has taken place in Finland about abandoning the summer time system and particularly on the harmful health effects of changing the clocks. We would now like to hear the views of the Commission and the other Member States as to whether changing the clocks still has the impact originally intended for it and whether the Commission intends to take action on this issue,” said Berner that time.