Directive would apply to UK if it stayed in EU, and also during Brexit transition period

The European parliament has voted to scrap the twice-a-year custom of changing the clocks by an hour in spring and autumn by 2021, leaving only national governments to now give their assent.

The change would apply to the UK if it stays in the EU, and also during an extended transition period that is part of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Member states would be able to choose whether to remain on “permanent summer” or “permanent winter” time under the draft directive, which passed by 410 votes to 192.

Countries that wanted to be permanently on summertime would adjust their clocks for the final time on the last Sunday in March 2021. Those that opt for permanent wintertime would change their clocks for the final time on the last Sunday of October 2021.

It is the latest step in the EU’s harmonisation of daylight saving time first launched in the 1980s in an attempt to prevent divergent approaches from undermining the European single market. Under current EU law, the clocks in the 28 member states move forward together on the last Sunday in March and fall back on the last Sunday in October.

Tory MEPs, who voted against the proposal, reacted angrily to the development, with one accusing the European commission, which has pushed the plan to ditch daylight saving time, of acting like “time lords”.

Should the House of Commons ratify the withdrawal agreement in the next three weeks, and go into an extended transition period, the UK government would have to implement the directive without any say. It could, however, backtrack once the extension period is over.

John Flack, the Conservative MEP for the East of England, said: “We’ve long been aware the EU wants too much control over our lives – now they want to control time itself.

“You would think they had other things to worry about without wanting to become time lords,” he said, in an apparent reference to the BBC sci-fi drama Doctor Who.

“We agreed when they said the clocks should change across the whole EU on an agreed day. That made sense – but this is a step too far,” Flack added.



“I know that farmers in particular, all across the east of England, value the flexibility that the clock changes bring to get the best from available daylight.”

The British government has yet to offer any formal opinion on the proposal, which risks creating fresh problems over the status of Northern Ireland after Brexit.

In December, freedom of information releases revealed the concerns of officials in the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy over the possibility of two different time zones on the island of Ireland for much of the year.

What are the perfect office hours for our body clocks? Read more

Jacqueline Foster, the Conservative party’s transport spokeswoman in the European parliament, said: “Quite frankly, this is not a matter that should be decided in Brussels.

“We welcomed the decision some years ago to ensure that, when the clocks do change across Europe, they do so on the same day, but have consistently argued that this is ultimately a matter for an individual country.

“This move is unwanted and unnecessary. With all of the problems and challenges facing the EU at present, one would have thought that the commission’s focus would be elsewhere.”

The practice of switching the clocks was introduced in the first world war to save energy by prolonging evening daylight in summer.

The European commission survey on the proposal generated 4.6m responses, with 84% of respondents in favour. Critics say the survey was dominated by Germans, who made up 70% of the respondents.

A European parliament report published ahead of the vote had suggested time changes were linked to cardiovascular diseases due to the interruption to biological cycles.

Marita Ulvskog, a Swedish MEP, said in the debate: “New technology and different ways of living mean that we no longer earn anything [from time change], in fact we don’t save.”