EU Commission plans the end of time changes
CLOCKS go back an hour in autumn and are turned forward in the spring as surely as, well, the changing of the seasons – right?
But after more than a century, this could be about to end under EU Commission plans.
Proposals put forward by Jean Claude Juncker’s Commission would require states to choose between “permanent” summer-time or winter-time.
A report published by the House of Lords states: “Should the UK and EU reach an agreement according to the terms of the draft Withdrawal Agreement, the UK would be required to implement the proposed directive during the transition period.”
In other words, even if the UK leaves the EU on March 29, this is the type of regulation that Britain will still have to comply with during the transition phase, which is due to run until December 31, 2020.
The Lords’ European Union committee is not impressed, stating: “[We] consider that member states are best-placed to determine the necessity of seasonal times within their own territories.”
Under the plans, member states would have to notify the Commission by April next year as to whether they will keep winter or summertime.
The EU Commission says the changes are “essential” and are needed to “safeguard the proper functioning of the internal market and avoid disruptions by uncoordinated action by member states”.
It is concerned about the “potential disruption to the scheduling of transport operations and the functioning of information and communication systems, higher costs to cross-border trade, or lower productivity for goods and services”.
It adds that “with an end to this system, the human body will also no longer have to adapt to the change in time”.
Both the European Parliament and the EU Council will need to back the plan for it to become obligatory.
The Commission staged an online consultation which found that “84% want Europe to stop changing the clock”.
However, today’s Lords report states that “84.6% of replies came from only three member states, including 70% from Germany”.
While 3.79% of the German population are understood to have taken part in the consultation, the participation rate for the UK was just 0.02% – the lowest in the EU.
William Willett, the great-greatgrandfather of Coldplay singer Chris Martin, was a celebrated builder who campaigned for people to get up earlier, publishing in 1907 a pamphlet entitled The Waste of Daylight.
David Lloyd George applauded the idea but it was not until 1916, a year after Willett’s death, that the time changes were introduced.
By then, Britain was at war and there was a desire to save fuel. Germany introduced the plan in April, with Britain doing so in May.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has its own proposals.
A spokeswoman said: “RoSPA is calling for a trial of Single/Double Summer Time (SDST), which would see the clocks move forward an extra hour while retaining daylight savings – so in the winter we would be on GMT+1 (like the current British Summer Time) and in the summer we would be on GMT+2.
“RoSPA believes that, were the UK to have lighter evenings year-round, multiple lives could be saved, with many more people being protected from the serious, life-changing injuries and heartbreak that road accidents cause.”
Welsh Government Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford, who hopes to succeed Carwyn Jones as First Minister, said: “Of the many challenges facing the European Union I don’t think that daylight saving harmonisation needs to be a priority and that I think it is a matter best left, for now, to be determined by nation states”
Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething, who is also a candidate in the leadership race, said: “This is an interesting report but really not one of the biggest issues facing our country. I’m much more interested in overturning failed Tory austerity and [winning] the argument for a People’s Vote on our future with Europe.”
Welsh Ukip MEP Nathan Gill said the prospect of the UK having to comply with the rules demonstrated why there should not be a transition period after the UK officially leaves the EU in March.
He said: “This is a perfect example of why the transition period is disastrous... Whilst we’re in the transition period we’re actually still in the EU.
“We’re still paying them our membership fees, we’re still accepting all their laws but, crucially, during that time we have no MEPs so we have no representation, we don’t go to the Council of Ministers...
“So we are [a] vassal state [and] whatever they tell us we have to implement it.
“It summarises perfectly the problem with the EU where they have one size to fit all.”
Lord Whitty, a member of the EU Select Committee, said: “The European Commission’s proposal to end seasonal time changes goes beyond its remit and is not in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity.”