Author Topic: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements  (Read 7042 times)

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Offline BeeTee

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With a couple of days delay, the European Commission public consultation on summertime arrangements and daylight saving time has been finally uploaded on the EC website. Consulting EU citizens on the issue follows a European Parliament decision last February that has called for a review of the twice-yearly hour changes across the bloc. A petition by  Finnish citizens and health concerns have led to the move. European Parliament members voted 384 to 153 in a non-binding resolution on Thursday to urge the European Commission to carry out a “thorough assessment” of the daylight saving time (DST) arrangements for summer time and, if necessary “come up with a proposal for its revision.”

And here we are. In the public opinion survey, EU citizens can decide whether they want

a. the summer/winter time arrangement to be abolished
and

b. if they want only summer or winter time.
In its introduction note, the European Commission writes:

Following a number of requests from citizens, from the European Parliament, and from certain EU Member States, the Commission has decided to investigate the functioning of the current EU summertime arrangements and to assess whether or not they should be changed.

In this context, the Commission is interested in gathering the views of European citizens, stakeholders and Member States on the current EU summertime arrangements and on any potential change to those arrangements.

The public consultation runs from 4. July until 16 August 2018.

The online questionnaire is short and is accessible in all official EU languages (except Irish) and replies may be submitted in any EU language. The EC encourages citizens to answer as much as possible in English though.

You may pause at any time and continue later. Once you have submitted your answers, you can download a copy of your completed responses.
You can also upload documents, such as position papers, or send them to the contact e-mail.
Received contributions will be published on this page. If the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal information, the contribution will be published in anonymous form. If a document is uploaded to the contribution, it may be published unaltered together with the response.
Click here for the European Commission public consultation
http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2018/07/08/eu-public-survey-daylight-saving-time-poll/


Survey can be found here...

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/2018-summertime-arrangements


Offline Maik

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #1 on: Monday, 09 July, 2018 @ 12:12:18 »
Added a poll, here's some info that might (or might not) help you decide. Chip in with your thoughts as you wish:

Hm, according to the EU it's inconclusive as to whether there's any benefit or detriment to due to adopting Daylight Saving Time:

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Are current EU summertime arrangements working?

A number of studies have been carried out over the years to assess EU summertime arrangements. Available evidence indicates the following (For more details, please see list of main reference documents at the end. It refers to official Commission documents and reports, as well as the most recent meta-studies that analyse available scientific reports and studies on this issue):

*    Internal market: At this juncture, evidence is only conclusive on one point: that allowing uncoordinated time changes between Member States would be detrimental to the internal market due to higher costs to cross-border trade, inconveniences in transport, communications and travel, and lower productivity in the internal market for goods and services.

*    Energy: Despite having been one of the main drivers of the current arrangements, research indicates that the overall energy savings effect of summertime is marginal. Results also tend to vary depending on factors such as geographical location.

*    Health: Summertime arrangements are estimated to generate positive effects linked to more outdoor leisure activities. On the other hand, chronobiologic research findings suggest that the effect on the human biorhythm may be more severe than previously thought. The evidence on overall health impacts (i.e. the balance of the assumed positive versus negative effects) remains inconclusive.

*    Road safety: Evidence remains inconclusive with regard to the relationship between summertime arrangements and road traffic accidents. In principle, sleep deprivation from advancing the clock in spring could increase the risk of accidents. At the same time, extended daylight hours during summer evenings are considered to have a positive effect on road safety. However, it is generally difficult to attribute directly the effect of summertime arrangements on accident rates compared to other factors.

*    Agriculture: Previous concerns regarding disrupted biorhythm of animals and changing milking schedules due to the time switch appear to have largely disappeared due to the deployment of new equipment, artificial lighting and automated technologies. An extra daylight-hour during summer can also be an advantage allowing extended working hours for outdoor activities, such as working in fields and harvesting.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/consultations/2018-summertime-arrangements_en


According to that webpage, the options are:

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1.   Keeping the current EU summertime arrangements, or
2.   Discontinuing the current bi-annual time changes for all Member States and prohibiting periodic switches; again this would not affect the choice of time zone, and it would ultimately remain each Member State's decision whether to go for permanent summer or wintertime (or a different time).

So, e.g. the UK could opt to change to GMT+2 all year, France could adopt winter time all year, Spain could opt for summer time all year.

Stating the bleedin' obvious but... adopting Summer Time all year won't actually improve the UK's weather  ;)


Offline TonyD

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #2 on: Monday, 09 July, 2018 @ 16:43:46 »
Someone, or more likely some department, has been handsomely paid to spend time addressing this "issue"

They (the EU) won't understand of course, but it's exactly this nonsensical waste of time and money that makes Brexit feel so justified

Offline TonyKath

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #3 on: Monday, 09 July, 2018 @ 19:25:11 »
Thanks BT and Maik for the thread and a famous GGi poll - been a while since we had one.  Some people esp in Scotland feel quite strongly about it. But others not, like TonyD. Not sure myself. I find it a pain switching over twice a year, but that shouldn't be a main reason for a decision. I'll watch the discussion before I vote.

Offline Maik

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #4 on: Friday, 31 August, 2018 @ 14:42:56 »
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EU to recommend that member states abolish daylight saving time
Move follows poll finding that more than 80% of Europeans are against changing clocks
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/31/eu-recommend-member-states-abolish-daylight-saving-time

Offline BeeTee

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #5 on: Saturday, 01 September, 2018 @ 12:02:19 »
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EU to recommend that member states abolish daylight saving time
Move follows poll finding that more than 80% of Europeans are against changing clocks
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/31/eu-recommend-member-states-abolish-daylight-saving-time

The 80% quoted looks to be 80% of those 4.6 million that responded online. I think the current EU population is well over 500 million so is the survey really representative ?
http://www.euronews.com/2018/08/31/eu-to-propose-end-to-daylight-savings-time

Offline Maik

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #6 on: Saturday, 01 September, 2018 @ 13:04:35 »
so is the survey really representative ?

If you hadn't posted I probably wouldn't have heard of it, I suspect many in the UK were blissfully unaware of the EU survey - or just couldn't give a fig:

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By far the biggest response was in Germany and Austria (3.79% and 2.94% of the national population respectively). The UK's response was lowest - 0.02% - but few Italians took part, either (0.04%).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45366390

Hm, the biggest response involved less than 4% of the population... wait for demands for a second referendum!  :iroll:

According to several sources the change could create a 'time border' between Northern Ireland and the Republic  :oki:

Not sure having permanent British Summer Time is a good idea.

Bound to lead to more water shortages, hose pipe bans, excuses for fruit and veg price rises...
 ;)


However... the GGi poll was surprisingly accurate: low turnout, most of those in favour of BST year round
« Last Edit: Saturday, 01 September, 2018 @ 13:07:27 by Maik »

Offline Maik

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #7 on: Friday, 14 September, 2018 @ 20:53:35 »
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EU seeks to scrap seasonal clock changes in 2019

The European Union will scrap the twice-yearly seasonal clock change across the bloc from October 2019, leaving member states to decide by April whether they will stick permanently to summer or winter time, the European Commission said on Friday.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/232612/article/ekathimerini/news/eu-seeks-to-scrap-seasonal-clock-changes-in-2019


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EU Pleads for Cooperation to Avoid Clock-Change Chaos

The European Union on Friday urged member countries to work together to avoid turning Europe into a confusing patchwork of different time zones, after announcing plans to abolish seasonal clock changes.

The proposal also raises a fresh Brexit conundrum: If it goes ahead, EU member Ireland will stop changing the clocks, but British-ruled Northern Ireland will continue the practice.

The British government said it has "no plans to change daylight saving time," meaning that for six months of every year, Ireland and Northern Ireland would be an hour apart.
https://www.voanews.com/a/eu-pleads-for-cooperation-to-avoid-clock-change-chaos/4571849.html

Offline Maik

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #8 on: Monday, 22 October, 2018 @ 10:44:44 »
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Burglaries 'spike by one third after clocks go back', figures suggest

Homeowners have been warned to be on guard ahead of an expected increase in break-ins when clocks go back this month.

Co-op Insurance, which analysed customer claim figures since 2013, said burglaries spiked by 34 per cent on average during the five months of daylight savings time each year.

More burglaries happened on Fridays than any other day, according Co-op's analysis.

Burglaries were more likely to be targeted raids involving forced entry into unoccupied houses during the winter months, the firm said.

In summer, break-ins were more likely to be opportunistic and involve deception rather than force.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-daylight-saving-burglary-time-clocks-go-back-co-op-insurance-a8594936.html

This year clocks in Europe go back one hour early Sunday morning, 28 October.

Offline TonyKath

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #9 on: Monday, 22 October, 2018 @ 13:44:18 »
Er... could it be because, actually, it's darker in the winter?!

Tony

Offline Maik

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Re: EU Commission runs a public survey on Daylight Saving Time arrangements
« Reply #10 on: Monday, 22 October, 2018 @ 15:34:49 »
Other thing I noticed was "the five months of daylight savings time each year" - surely Daylight Saving Time is the seven months when the clock is moved forward, i.e Summer Time?

And there's more:

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How the UK could be forced to scrap daylight saving time by the EU - even though we're leaving

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.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/how-uk-could-forced-scrap-15308718


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EU’s Daylight Savings ban in breach of law, peers warn

Plans to ban daylight saving in Scotland are in breach of European Union laws and should be scrapped, a new report has warned.

EU countries fall into three timezones - Greenwich Mean Time, Central European Time and Eastern European Time.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/general-election/eu-s-daylight-savings-ban-in-breach-of-law-peers-warn-1-4818029