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BRUSSELS — It could be summer time all year long for countries in the European Union.

The European Commission decided Friday it will push the EU parliament and member states to ditch the system of twice-yearly changes to the time following a citizens’ consultation.

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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the German ZDF network on Friday that “the people want that, and we will make it happen.”

Photo by SEBASTIAN KAHNERT/AFP/Getty Images

EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said that 84 per cent of the 4.6 million people who took part in the consultation “do not want the clocks to change anymore.” Participation among member states varied widely with 3.79 per cent of Germans taking part compared to 0.02 per cent in Britain.

Juncker said that it would make no sense to disregard people’s wishes, indicating the European Commission proposal would go in that direction.

The European Parliament and the EU member states would still need to approve the abolishment of the time change and could still impose further changes to the time system and, for example, decide whether it would be constant summer or winter time.

Since 1996, the EU nations have moved the clock forward by one hour in March and backward again in October. It was harmonized across the bloc to meet concerns of the transport and logistics sectors in the single market. There are three standard time zones in the EU.