Time up for daylight saving? The clock is ticking

THE clock is ticking on Daylight Saving Time – as the deadline nears on a European-wide public consultation about whether EU states should change their clocks for summertime any more.

However, there is still time for those politicians second-guessing the practice – as the hour of reckoning is not until August 16.

MEP Deirdre Clune, who wants the practice of putting clocks forward and back by an hour in the year to be scrapped, said it is ‘a relic from a bygone era that no longer serves a useful purpose’.

Appearing to support an extra hour in the evenings in the winter, she said: ‘Having brighter evenings in winter would lead to improved outcomes for road safety as the roads are statistically more dangerous from the hours of 4-7pm. There are obvious economic benefits such as reduced energy consumption because of less need for artificial light in the evenings with a consequent reduction in CO2 emissions.’

The majority of EU states have a long tradition of summertime arrangements that were initially designed to save energy.

However, there have also been other motivations, such as road safety.

Finland has asked that the bi-annual time switch be abandoned and Lithuania has called for a review of the current system.

In February, MEPs voted 384 to 153 in the European Parliament to abolish the practice of changing clocks. However, the vote has no legal framework and all EU countries would have to agree to scrap DST for it to be implemented.

The European Commission is now in the process of investigating ‘the functioning’ of EU summertime arrangements.