Bid to end twice-yearly clock shift

It could be summer time all year long for countries in the European Union, after the European Commission decided it will push the EU Parliament and member states to ditch the system of twiceyearly changes to the time following a citizens’ consultation.

EU Commission president Jean-claude Juncker said if that is what the people want, “we will make it happen”.

EU transport commissioner Violeta Bulc said 84 per cent of the 4.6 million people who took part in the consultation “do not want the clocks to change anymore”. Participation among member states varied widely, with 3.79 per cent of Germans taking part compared with 0.02 per cent of Britons.

But Mr Juncker said it would make no sense to disregard people’swishes,indicatingthe European Commission proposal would go in that direction. The European Parliament and EU member states would still need to approve the ending of the time change.