Abolition of the time change is still pending

Last weekend the clocks were switched back to summer time. As it stands, not for the last time. The six-monthly change should actually no longer exist in the EU from this autumn. The European Parliament decided this in 2019 with a resolution and a two-thirds majority.

However, it quickly became apparent that the schedule for implementation in the individual member countries was too ambitious. Because mere abolition is not enough. For the actual abolition of the time changeover, a compromise has to be reached with the member states after the vote of the EU Parliament. Because the clocks should not tick differently in every country in the future.

Since then, the individual member states have been discussing whether normal time, ie “winter time”, or “summer time” should apply. In addition, it is unclear whether and how one could harmonize the Western European, Central European and Eastern European time zones at the same time.

In the EU Council, the topic was not yet, which, according to observers, has so far been due to more urgent issues such as Brexit or Corona. The last word from the Federal Ministry of Economics was the EU Commission do not have an impact assessment yet submitted – but it is necessary in order to deal with the subject in the EU Council in an “expedient” manner.

Aviation fears problems

The aviation industry also fears problematic consequences of changing the previous system from summer to winter time. Aviation industry advocacy groups such as Iata and Airlines-4-Europe recently expressed their fears that the elimination of the time change would have “significant effects” on air traffic, including with regard to slot planning.

Those familiar with international flight planning point out that slot management takes place globally on the basis of UTC times, which is why a time change is not a problem in the vast majority of cases. Planning security as early as possible is important. Because in connection with night flight bans there can be complications in international air traffic.

Flights that arrive in Germany in the early morning or late evening from outside the EU can be an hour too early or one hour too late without a time change. Accordingly, different slots would be required at the departure airports than in all previous years with the time change, which can be a problem at the heavily used international hubs. Conversely, the same applies to flights out of the EU.