Citizen’s bill to ban time adjustment ready

A citizen’s initiative bill to impose a ban on adjusting the clock for summer and winter is set to be tabled at parliament as it has acquired 50,000 signatures on Monday.

The initiative supported by the Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party), the second largest component of the three-party ruling alliance, however, needs approval from the European Union, reported the national broadcaster Yle.

Many people are interested to go back to the state of 1981 when the clock was same round the year. Finland has been following separate time schedules for summer and winter after that.

If the bill is passed, Finland will stop changing the clocks in the spring and autumn.

The deadline for the initiative is April 10, but it has already achieved the target of 50,000 signatures.

The initiative criticised moving the clock forward and back as a factor affecting quality and quantity of sleep, said the Yle report.

The children’s ombudsman also criticised it last year, suggesting that it causes behavioural problems among children.

Parliament has an obligation to handle any citizen’s initiative that has accumulated at least 50,000 signatures in six months after its launch.

The citizen’s initiative is examined and approved by the Population Register Centre before forwarding it to parliament.