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EU To Stop Changing the Clocks in October 2019 (dw.com)

European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc last week announced that the EU will stop the twice-yearly changing of clocks across the continent in October 2019. From a report: The practice, which was used as a means to conserve energy during the World Wars as well as the oil crises of the 1970s, became law across the bloc in 1996. All EU countries are required to move forward by an hour on the last Sunday of March and back by an hour on the final Sunday in October. Bulc said EU member states would have until April 2019 to decide whether they would permanently remain on summer or winter time. [...] "In order to maintain a harmonised approach we are encouraging consultations at national levels to ensure a coordinated approach of all member states," Bulc said. The decision to tackle the issue was prompted after the Commission launched an online survey. Some 4.6 million Europeans answered the survey -- three million of those respondents were from Germany -- with 80 percent of them voting to scrap the practice .

31 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Per the Car Talk guys by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

    Let's go for Double-Dutch Daylight Savings - permanently!!

    (RIP Tommy)

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  2. About time! (heh) by divide+overflow · · Score: 5, Interesting

    DST is a waste of time. Now it is time for the U.S. to do the same.

    1. Re:About time! (heh) by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 5, Funny

      DST is a waste of time. Now it is time for the U.S. to do the same.

      Now that the EU has got rid of it, the US will start changing the clocks four time times a year just to be contrary.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    2. Re:About time! (heh) by s4080326 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      DST is a poor substitute for deregulation of work hours. I live in a location without daylight savings, but I'm fortunate enough that in summer I can start work early ( I wake with the sun) do my hours and finish early.

    3. Re:About time! (heh) by sysstemlord · · Score: 2

      I will never understand what kind of logic makes a person decide to change the clock, in order to come home early, if you want to come home early then you change the work schedule to 7-4 instead of 8-5, for me this is the sane approach!

    4. Re: About time! (heh) by Lije+Baley · · Score: 2

      We should change to a single time zone for the entire contiguous U.S. and call it "freedom time"

      --
      Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
  3. Damn - one year too late by mccalli · · Score: 4, Funny

    October 2018 (obviously impossible) would have enshrined this into the UK transitional period too. Haven't heard anything about what the UK will do - am really hoping we stop changing as well.

    I responded to the survey voting for 'stop changing', so I'm happy with this.

    1. Re:Damn - one year too late by GNious · · Score: 3, Funny

      According to Daily Mail, this change is only introduced to drive a wedge between UK and Ireland.
      Based on their reasoning, the UK will not be following EU on this matter.

    2. Re:Damn - one year too late by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 2

      It's worse than that because the UK will never be able to do this now without appearing to be following the EU lead which the brexiteers will deem completely unacceptable. The UK is probably now stuck with GMT and BST for the foreseeable future.

    3. Re:Damn - one year too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Since when did the Daily Mail ever do 'reasoning' ?
      All they care about is twisting things to make nice click-baity headlines to sell more papers to people who need to be told what they should be offended by today.
      TBH, I'm suprised they didn't make it out to be some Islamic plot to drive down house prices and cause cancer.

    4. Re:Damn - one year too late by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's worse than that because the UK will never be able to do this now without appearing to be following the EU lead which the brexiteers will deem completely unacceptable.

      Well, without following the EU lead, the UK could hold a referendum and ask its people what they want.

      A referendum was how the UK decided to brexit() in the first place.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    5. Re:Damn - one year too late by Miamicanes · · Score: 4, Interesting

      From what I've heard, the problem in Britain is that almost everyone prefers BST to GMT, but there's an equally-strong nostalgic draw to being on GMT for at least a few months per year... an enduring reminder that Britain was once the literal center and reference point of the civilized world, and everyone *else* defined their local time relative to London's time.

      I suspect France will have a similar national dilemma. It didn't get to name GMT, but it DID get to name UTC (or at least, SI did). Europe's geopolitical center might have shifted eastward after Germany reunified and the EU grew... but as long as France gets to have UTC for a few months per year, it can still feel smugly superior and regard itself as the world's timekeeping reference point. Moving to CET year-round would be yet another psychological concession that continental Europe no longer revolves around Paris.

      Predictions:

      1. France will stick with UTC for the sake of national pride initially, decide it hates early sunsets, and join the rest of Europe in UTC+1 within a couple of years.

      2. Britain will come up with a solution worthy of a Terry Pratchett novel... UTC+1 year-round, except on Boxing Day. On Boxing Day, clocks will be turned back an hour sometime early in the morning, solar noon will occur at 12:00 GMT somewhere in Britain (often in London, occasionally near the site of the Greenwich Observatory itself (or at least, somewhere above its parking lot, since the actual meridian is a few hundred feet away from the "ceremonial" meridian's painted line), then clocks will skip from 22:59:59 GMT to 00:00:00 UTC+1, ensuring that the madness & confusion persist for only a single calendar day.

      The first year, everyone will think it's cute in the days leading up to it, the day itself will end with thousands of people missing flights and trains due to mass confusion about whether or not the time change is a joke, and a few weeks later Parliament will quietly pass a law making Britain UTC+1 year-round, except for the literal sites of the Greenwich Observatory and Stonehenge (which will be GMT year-round... preserving the symbolism, while sparing 99.999% of Britain's population from having to deal with its consequences).

    6. Re:Damn - one year too late by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      The Daily Mail is basically

      - 5 Minutes Hate
      - Everything gives you cancer
      - Cute animals
      - Any excuse to show a sexy girl, even if she is 14

      Just that, relentlessly day after day, until your mind is corrupted.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:Damn - one year too late by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Informative

      They have to have the other stuff to justify the photos of girls and women. A lot of it is "health" stories that are basically body shaming and anxiety inducing crap where they write about the 5 year old children of celebrities wearing designer clothes and eating sweets like any normal 5 year old would.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. " stop the twice-yearly changing of clocks" by Chuq · · Score: 2

    How hard is it to use the phrase "daylight saving"?

    --
    - Chuq
    1. Re:" stop the twice-yearly changing of clocks" by iggymanz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Very hard, since it's a lie and does not save daylight at all.

    2. Re:" stop the twice-yearly changing of clocks" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Maybe we should compromise, only change the clocks once a year.

    3. Re:" stop the twice-yearly changing of clocks" by rsborg · · Score: 2

      Very hard, since it's a lie and does not save daylight at all.

      That's why you use phrases like "so-called" or "quaintly referred to as" to note your usage of inaccurate terminology that somehow happens to be what everyone calls it.

      As it's titled it's bizarre since lots of folks know what "daylight savings" "spring forward" and "fall back" means but are confused about what "changing the clocks" may indicate - is it upgrade time?

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
    4. Re:" stop the twice-yearly changing of clocks" by santiago · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Daylight saving" is also primarily an Americanism, with most of Europe referring to the local equivalent as "summer time".

  5. Re:Maybe not all of europe by Streetlight · · Score: 2

    If I read the OP correctly, countries can decide which time zone they're in but not change twice a year. Am I wrong?

    --
    In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
  6. Standard Time forever! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I consider myself a "purist" and wish that we'd just stop using DST completely and just go with "winter" time year-round.

    The more south you go, the less "saving" daylight is needed since there's less daylight variance between the seasons.

    The more north you go the more "extreme" sunrises would get if you use "summer" time (DST) in the winter. Once you get into longitude 40N range (NYC, Detroit, Toronto), if you use 'summer time' in the winter you get sunrise at 8:30. Sunsets will be at 5:30 instead of 4:30, and that's hardly worth much IMHO.

    We have electrical lights now: is it that big of a deal that it gets dark "sooner"? The last time it was really dark in an urban area was giant 2003 blackout. I'd rather have earlier sunrises, as otherwise people's circadian rhythms are going to all sorts of fucked up (especially dangerous while driving).

  7. Re:Maybe not all of europe by aliquis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I hate people saying "I prefer day light savings time because <reasons>."

    Why?

    Because the clock already have a definition which make sense.
    12 is the middle of the day. Sun as near zenith as it can be.
    00 is the complete opposite. Sun as far away as possible.
    As soon as the clock pass 00:00:00 you're moving towards the brighter part instead of the darker part.

    It's symmetrical and make logical sense.

    I totally understand if some people wish they had more light hours after work or if current schedules are setup so that they are more awake in the evening than in the morning for whatever reason and as such prefer it that way. But that's all changeable without messing with the clock and how that the earths rotation around the sun. Let 00 be when you are turned away from the sun and 12 be when you are turned against it still. As for all that other crap change that if you want too. If you want to maximize sun hours why aren't people going to bed at 20 and up at 04 instead for instance? Totally achievable. You don't have to screw up the clock for that!

    "But it's so much work! It's easier to just change the clock!"
    I guess that could be argued vs the current setup where we move the clock twice per year. It's likely less work to change those things once and then stop doing those changes than doing those changes all the time but not changing opening hours and what not.
    But yeah. It would be a bit of work. But definitely not something which can be done. And yeah, if we stuck with winter time all the time it likely would make sense to change things around one hour because as is summer time run for a longer time than winter time so that's the more common hours for things, so what we are used to and it's fine keeping it like those in the winter too. ... but change the times/schedules/opening hours/.. not the definitions for how a freaking clock work.

    And if you are going to change the clock anyway then change it to 1000 hours, 1000 minutes and 1000 seconds ir 10 of each while at it because that would make more sense than especially the analog clock which do two rotations in one day and the am and pm crap you people got in some societies.

  8. Re:Maybe not all of europe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You might want to (a) realise that not everyone gets to choose their work hours and (b) 1200 is not solar maximum in any timezone for the entire year for any location. Do try harder.

  9. Re:Why keep DST? by SCVonSteroids · · Score: 3, Funny

    Although the name implies it, daylight saving time does not actually make the day longer.

    Hah! Well I guess somebody better tell Mr Sun he can get back to his normal orbit* speed around our Earth during the winter time!

    *High Blood Pressure Warning: This comment may cause sudden spikes in blood pressure. If experiencing any chest pains or numbness, please consult a doctor immediately.

    --
    I tend to rant.
  10. Re:Compromise: UK to set back to 1939, EU to 2019 by maglor_83 · · Score: 3, Funny

    In Scotland they'll be set to Scotch Time and in NI they'll be set to Whiskey Time, of course.

    Why would you set your time to 'All the time'?

  11. Re:summer time versus DST by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

    You are right, it is not an issue in other languages, because the time between spring and autumn/fall is just called "summer", an not "summertime".

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  12. Re:Maybe not all of europe by lgw · · Score: 2

    Set the clocks where ever it makes people happy, just stop changing them. The idea that there's some objective reason to have 12 be at some particular time of day is nonsense.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  13. Re:They already have. by The1stImmortal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nobody is stupid enough to actually strangle the classes that create wealth by not giving them a foot out of the tax door, so to speak.

    Nitpick - they don't create wealth, they're merely major redistributors of wealth. They're the pumps, not the sources.

  14. Re:Choice between summer is winter time!? by mutantSushi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's really not, the choice of 'permanent summer/winter time' is really functionally identical to choosing a different time zone. So the forced choice meaning there is no "default" inertia is simply opportunity for Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg tio return to their 'natural' time zone (by longitude) 1 hr west of Germany/Italy/etc, which was only altered due to Nazi occupation. On the other side, if Poland wants to be 1 hour east of Germany in same zone as Baltics, that is plausible policy too. The thing is, every country has ALWAYS been able to designate it's time zone, that was never controlled by EU, and even before EU/EC countries tend to either be in same zone as neighbor, or 1 hr offset from immediate east/west. If you approach this as subjective preference re: summer/winter you might imagine patchwork of variation, but functionally it is no different than choosing a time zone, which countries have always approached pragmatically in relation to their neighbors. The borders of time zones may change somewhat, but they've done so before (in fact, creating the un-natural time situation for Spain as well as FR/BE/NE/LUX) and that isn't really anything to worry about.

  15. the revolution is here ! by Tom · · Score: 3, Funny

    Look, it took only a decade of pressure and a public petition with a majority reminiscent of old soviet style elections to strong-arm our politicians into doing one simple thing right.

    There may still be hope for this planet. At this speed, somewhere around 2350 they will decide that climate change is actually a bad thing and they ought to do something about it.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    1. Re:the revolution is here ! by Tom · · Score: 2

      It's not luck that 75% of the respondents were German.

      The petition was widely shared on german speaking social media. Other countries may have been less aggressive in that regard.

      the Germans see democracy as inefficient and illogical.

      "the Germans" includes me and I disagree with that statement. So please be more clear who you mean. The government? The administration? The people? The secret Nazi underground which still runs everything from their Inner Earth hiding spot?

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org