The European Parliament on Tuesday voted with a large majority to end daylight savings time in the EU by 2021.

Under the proposals, each member state would decide whether to continue with twice-a-year clock changes or stick permanently to summer or winter time.

Read more: European Parliament set to end EU-wide daylight savings time

Clock ticking

All 28 member states would need to inform the European Commission of their choice ahead of the proposed switch, by April 2020. They would then coordinate with the bloc's executive so that their decisions do not disrupt the functioning of the single market.

Last year, the European Commission proposed abolishing the seasonal clock change after an EU-wide online poll showed overwhelming support. It has been accused, however, of rushing through the vote ahead of European Parliament elections in May.

Some 3 million of the 4.6 million survey responses came from Germany, leading to complaints the European Commission wanted to impose German will on the other states through sheer populism.

Russia switched to permanent summer time in 2011 in an attempt to improve citizens' well-being but shifted to permanent winter time three years later after public complaints.

Read more: Summertime: What a joke!

Daylight saving time in the EU: What's it all about? DST in the EU Spring forward, fall back. Sound familiar? The catchphrase describes the practice of daylight saving time (DST), or moving the clock forward by one hour in summer to make evening daylight last longer. The practice is common in North America and Europe, with people changing their clocks at the start of spring and then reverting them back in the middle of fall.

Daylight saving time in the EU: What's it all about? Thanks to a love of insects While some may have heard that Benjamin Franklin, an 18th-century founding father of the United States, invented DST, credit actually goes to New Zealand entomologist George Hudson. He valued after-work hours of sun to collect insects, which led him in 1895 to propose shifting clocks two hours forward in summer and two hours back in winter. His idea was not very popular.

Daylight saving time in the EU: What's it all about? Saving energy in WWI Hudson's idea took some time to catch on — and when it did, it was in a totally different part of the world. In 1916, the German and Austrian Empires ordered that all clocks be moved forward by one hour on April 30 in order to try to save fuel for the war effort by minimizing the need for artificial lighting. The UK, France and the US soon followed, but countries dropped the shift after WWI ended.

Daylight saving time in the EU: What's it all about? EU clock coordination begins DST was reinstituted in much of Europe during WWII, including in Germany under Adolf Hitler. National practices varied greatly through the 1970s energy crisis. In 1980, the EU's forerunner began to coordinate divergent clock changes. Since 2001, EU states have been obliged to switch to summer time on the last Sunday in March and back to standard time, or winter time, on the last Sunday in October.

Daylight saving time in the EU: What's it all about? EU calls for ending DST In 2018, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pledged to do away with the bloc's seasonal time changes in 2019. Member states could choose to keep summer or winter time. His cited an online EU survey in which 84 percent of respondents voted to end clock changes. However, only 4.6 million people voted in the poll and nearly three-quarters of all votes were from Germany.

Daylight saving time in the EU: What's it all about? EU time patchwork ahead? Now EU countries are at odds over what to do. France's parliament held its own online vote over sticking with summer or winter time. Other countries have asked to delay dropping DST until 2021, while Greece and Portugal want to keep the hourly seasonal swap. What many hope to avoid is a new type of time change — having to adjust the clocks regularly when crossing national borders within the EU. Author: Cristina Burack



kw/rt (dpa, Reuters)

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