The European Parliament supports the proposal to abandon the change of daylight saving time. Initially, the deadline was 2019, then there was talk of 2021.
By that time, Member States had to notify whether they wanted to apply daylight saving time or winter time permanently. For now, however, the discussion remains in the air.
The EU first adopted daylight saving time legislation in 1980 to unify existing divergent practices and timetables at the national level, thus ensuring a harmonized approach to the time change in the single market. Since 2001, EU daylight saving time measures have been regulated by Directive 2000/84 / EC, which requires all Member States to switch to daylight saving time on the last Sunday in March and to return to their standard time (“daylight saving time”). winter ”) on the last Sunday in October.
Over the years, numerous studies on EU summertime measures have been carried out. Those studies included various studies and reports outsourced or prepared by the Commission: for example, a 1999 review of the impact of EU summertime measures on key economic sectors, as well as health and leisure activities, a 2007 Commission report on the impact of the Daylight Saving Time Directive, and a 2014 study on the possible implications of a non-harmonized daylight saving time system in the EU3.
In February 2016, the German Bundestag published a report on the impact of daylight saving time, and in October 2017 the European Parliament’s Research Service presented a report summarizing the latest information on existing evidence of daylight saving time.
About the impact of summertime measures, the evidence mentioned in the above reports indicates the following:
How changing the time affects your health
Some studies show that summertime measures could have a positive effect on the increased number of outdoor leisure activities. On the other hand, there are results of chronobiological studies that suggest that the effect on the human biorhythm may be more severe than previously thought.
For example, 2016 report refers to findings that indicate that the human biological rhythm is adapting less well than previously thought in the change of springtime and that certain human chronotypes may need several weeks to adapt over time. which change in the fall creates fewer problems. However, the evidence on the overall health effects (ie the balance of the alleged positive and negative effects) remains inconclusive.
What effects does the time change have on road safety?
The data remain inconclusive as to the relationship between daylight saving time measures and road accidents. Some studies show that sleep deprivation caused by moving the clocks before spring would increase the risk of accidents.
However, in general, it is difficult to conclude that an increase in the accident rate could be directly attributed to the effect of daylight saving time measures rather than other factors.
The effect of switching to summertime in agriculture
Daylight saving time measures have raised concerns that changing the time would disrupt animal biorhythm and milking and feeding schedules.
However, those concerns seem to be gradually fading, thanks to the introduction of new equipment, artificial lighting, and automated technologies.
Time change and the internal market
At present, the evidence is conclusive on one point: allowing time changes without coordination between the Member States would be to the detriment of the internal market due to higher costs for cross-border trade, inconvenience, and possible disruption of transport, communications and travel, as well as due to declining productivity in the internal market for goods and services.
When the time changes in 2022
In 2022, the time changes from Saturday night to Sunday, with the clock moving forward on March 28, and 03:00 becoming 04:00. Romania thus moves to summertime.
In Romania, summertime was first introduced in 1932 (between May 22 and October 2). From 1933 until 1940, when this custom was abandoned, daylight saving time was introduced on the first Sunday in April until the first Sunday in October.
Between 1941 and 1979, daylight saving time was no longer used. The reintroduction of daylight saving time occurred in 1979.
In 1979, Romania signed the Time Zone Convention, and in 1997, Ordinance no. 20/1997 on the establishment of daylight saving time and official daylight saving time in Romania, which in art (1) stated that: Orientale, applicable from the last Sunday of March, at 3.00, which becomes 4.00, until the last Sunday of October, at 4.00, which becomes 3.00 ″.
Until 1996 (with a few exceptions) summertime was introduced from the end of March to the end of September.
Since 1997, it has been switching to daylight saving time from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.
Daylight saving time will be valid in 2022 in Romania from March 28 to October 31, 2022.
