Poland could become the only EU country to abolish the twice-yearly time change after legislation scrapping winter and summer times sailed through its first reading in parliament.

In a rare showing of unity in Poland’s bitterly divided political environment the bill won unanimous backing in a committee phase and now heads to its second reading with its proponents confident of success.

They say putting the clocks forwards and back causes health problems and damages the economy.

“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 Bronislaw Karasek, from Polish People’s Party, the left-wing party responsible for the bill.

Supporters of the legislation also argue that the twice-yearly time changes cause disruption to businesses and do little to cut energy consumption.

But proponents of maintaining the status-quo point out that going it alone in time could cause massive problems for Poland. In particular computer systems will have to be adjusted to the unexpected alteration to time with updates, new software or even new operating systems needed.

“This will affect every person and every institution,” Wieslaw Paluszynski, vice president of Poland’s Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications, told TVNbis, a Polish business news channel.