So far, the bloc's member states put their clocks forward by an hour every spring and switch them back in late October, in a tradition that is similar to the U.S. model, even though dates vary.

While many Europeans rejoiced on social media upon hearing the news Friday, there is more than one catch. Any abandonment of daylight saving time would still need to be approved by the European Parliament and the E.U.'s 28 member states.

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And while the E.U. is trying to frame the proposal as a success for citizen participation, it is based on shaky ground: an unrepresentative online poll that was at times not even accessible. The largest share of participants came from one country — Germany — where the time switch has been a somewhat odd front-page topic for years. But any E.U. decision would also impact the 27 other member states.

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Despite questions over the E.U.'s use of online polls to guide decisions, the bloc's push for daylight saving time might still be welcomed in a vast number of European capitals.

Dozens of other countries, including Russia and Belarus, have long abandoned the practice. E.U. nations have been increasingly vocal about what some perceive as a waste of resources with little benefit in recent years. In Poland, there was rare cross-party agreement last year when legislators pursued efforts to end summer time.

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“The time changes can lead to imbalances in the body clock, leading to mood swings, trouble with sleeping, and an increased risk of heart attacks and road accidents,” said lawmaker Bronislaw Karasek, who worked on the bill for the center-left Polish People’s Party.

The country is technically not allowed to implement such changes alone because it is bound by E.U. rules, but the Polish initiative was still welcomed by other member states that similarly oppose sticking with daylight saving time. Finland led more recent efforts to bring the topic back onto the agenda this year.

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The status quo has faced mounting criticism as researchers have pointed out health and economic burdens. Researchers say the step would make sense, as the twice-annual time switch can result in health issues among elderly people and children.

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Russian scientists, for example, found that the risk of heart attacks increased by 50 percent and that the suicide rate grew even more when clocks were changed. Otherwise healthy adults have complained about sleeplessness or difficulties in focusing at work during the days following the changing of the clocks.

The biggest challenge with abandoning the practice will be to agree on whether Europe should be on permanent summer or winter time in the future. Time zones often stretch across continents without a clear pattern: Looking at a map, one would assume that Britain, France and Spain are in the same zone, for example, but they aren't. Hence, for some E.U. nations, it would make more sense to abandon summer time. For others, sticking with winter time even during the summer would be more advantageous to save energy.

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Daylight saving time was introduced during World Wars I and II to save energy costs, both in the United States and in Europe, although its modern-day effect on energy consumption is disputed.

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It was standardized across Western Europe in the early 1980s and has since been in place more or less without modifications. Although more than 70 countries use some form of daylight saving time today, the practice is still most popular in Europe and the United States — as other countries either never joined or have since abandoned it.