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The European Commission plans to abolish the controversial summer. The agency launched Thursday an online survey of citizens, businesses and badociations to get an idea of the support or rejection of the project. Participants can also announce their opinion in German until August 16th.
The European Commission also refers to Member States' appeals
The European Parliament requested a review by the Commission in February. He also referred to studies according to which summer could have "negative consequences on human health". However, the request of the transport committee to abolish completely the summer did not find the majority at that time. The Commission also referred to the requests for amendment submitted by the Member States. Finland has asked for abolition.
Pros or Cons Summertime
Participants in the online survey would have two options, said a spokesman for the commission. They could argue for the maintenance of the summer time or their "abolition throughout the European Union". As far as the EU's internal market is concerned, the Commission wants to avoid a patchwork of different regulations. For this reason, the Commission also wants to explicitly prohibit Member States from switching to the national system if they want to abolish the summer time.
Time Conversion: Consequences on Health
At the same time, the Commission spokesman pointed out that studies on possible health problems caused by the change in time did not allow us to draw clear conclusions to date. Therefore, the decision must now be made "on the basis of other criteria". According to the Commission, recent studies suggest that the impact on biorhythms may be greater than expected. But there are also positive health effects badociated with more outdoor recreational activities. Moreover, the energy saving effects initially hoped for in summer would be at best "marginal".
"Permanent summer time" or "Constant winter time"?
The survey may also give reasons for deciding whether or not to use summer time: energy savings, health, evening recreational activities or road safety. In case of abolition, participants may indicate a preference for "permanent summer time" or "constant winter time".
The change of time introduced for reasons of energy saving
In the end, the introduction of the summer time was also a consequence the oil crisis of 1973 and the resulting energy saving measures. The idea: if daylight is better used, you can save energy. But research indicates that the savings are marginal: the electricity savings for lighting, especially efficient lighting systems, are more than offset by the overconsumption of heating energy and energy. the advance of the main heating time. (Federal government response to a request from the FDP to change the time in 2005.)
Since 2002, the transition has been uniformly regulated throughout the EU to avoid the problems caused by the transport of goods or the air or rail links. Clocks are always reset on the last Sunday of March before and the last Sunday of October.
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