Furthermore, the clocks are changed twice a year – but the time change should have long since been abolished. But what has become of it?
Frankfurt – Actually, the time change should be a thing of the past. The clocks should have been changed for the last time in March 2021. But the abolition of daylight saving time in the EU seems to be turning into a never-ending story. This story began with an online vote by the EU Commission. In 2018, 4.6 million Europeans voted on the future of Time Change and a large majority were in favor of abolishing it.
As a result, the EU Parliament spoke out in favor of abolishing the time change from 2021: The clocks should be changed for the last time in March 2021. But it is already autumn 2021, the next time change is just around the corner at the end of October – and the abolition of the time change is still not in the towel. The EU states still have to agree to this and determine what time within their borders should apply in the future.
And that is the sticking point at which the abolition of the time change is currently failing. If there was a single time zone in the whole of the EU, this could mean problems, especially for countries in the far west or in the far east. In the west, with permanent summer time, the sun would only rise very late in winter, while in the east, with permanent winter time, it would get dark very early.
| Time zone so far | countries |
|---|---|
| UTC / GMT (daylight saving time: UTC + 1) | Canary Islands, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal, Great Britain |
| Central European Time (Daylight Saving Time: UTC + 2) | Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark (mainland), France (mainland), Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain (mainland), Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic |
| Eastern European Time (daylight saving time: UTC + 3) | Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Russia |
| Moscow time (no daylight saving time) | Belarus, European part of Russia, Ukraine: only Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk |
| Source: timeanddate.de |
When will the clock change be abolished? Fear of “patchwork”
If the EU states cannot come to an agreement, what is currently a large unified time zone from Spain in the west to Poland in the east could become a patchwork quilt – a problem for tourism and the economy, among other things.
In a public document of the Romanian Council Presidency in June 2019 it was therefore also stated: “An EU-wide harmonized and coordinated approach is of crucial importance in order to avoid time zone patchwork and to ensure the smooth functioning of the EU internal market.”
Summer time or winter time? What time should apply after the time change is abolished?
As the “Berliner Morgenpost” reports, the EU is betting that four time zones could regulate the problem in the future – after all, there are currently several time zones in the EU. But apparently there is also disagreement within these regions about the future applicable time.
It is currently unclear when there will be an agreement on a common future time zone. In fact, the issue does not play as big a role in many countries as it does in Germany. Around two thirds of the approximately 4.6 million participants in the online survey to abolish the time change in 2018 came from Germany.
Until an agreement can be reached at some point, it continues: The clocks are changed twice a year – on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. In 2021, the time change to winter time will take place on October 30th. (tab)
