LONDON — The European Union has moved one step closer to scrapping seasonal time change after a substantial majority of lawmakers voted to end the requirement to move clocks ahead by one hour in spring and then back in the fall.

Under the current law, which has been in place for member states for two decades, clocks are moved ahead one hour on the last Sunday in March to create daylight saving time, and then moved back to standard time on the last Sunday in October. The European Parliament voted 410 to 192 on Tuesday to back a draft law to abolish the twice-a-year switch.

Under the draft law, each of the 28 countries in the bloc (although Britain may have left by then) will have to choose before 2021 whether it will follow daylight saving time throughout the year or maintain standard time.

That may seem to be a recipe for confusion, but Violeta Bulc, the European commissioner for mobility and transport, sought to allay concerns.