The planned abolition of the time change is probably not an inch ahead this year – although an overwhelming majority of EU citizens are in favor of it. And it’s not just the corona crisis that is to blame.
The clocks were again advanced by one hour. Summer time is now valid again until October 25th, although the Sunday weather does not want to go with it: Snow or sleet down to low altitudes are the order of the day in large parts of Germany.
Actually, according to a proposal by ex-EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (65), the time change should be abolished in 2019.
–
–
According to a self-organized survey, the EU Commission presented the draft directive in September 2018. However, no quick agreement was reached under the Austrian Presidency.
The European Parliament finally voted to abandon the clock change after 2021. But member states are further away than ever from agreeing on permanent normal time or summer time – and the issue has not even been on the agenda lately.
Hardly any hope of the German Presidency
Croatia, as the current presidency, has no intention of pushing ahead with a Council decision. Germany takes over the EU presidency in the second half of the year – and also has “no concrete plans” on this issue, as EU diplomats say. There are other concerns in Corona times.
EU chief and Juncker successor Ursula von der Leyen (61st CDU) has shown no interest in the topic in her first 100 days in office. Most recently, outgoing EU Economic Commissioner Günther Oettinger (66, CDU) said in the BILD interview that he was “glad that there was still no solution”.
According to a new survey by the health insurance company DAK, every fourth person over 14 years of age has health problems due to the change in time. Most of them generally complained of tiredness. More than half of those affected said that they had sleeping problems. The respondents also complained about concentration problems and depressed moods.
74 percent of those surveyed believed that the changeover was superfluous and should be abolished. 23 percent of the participants want to stick to it.
One of the beneficiaries of the time change is Deutsche Telekom: The day after the time change, it regularly records as many calls as it does throughout the month. A curious holdover from the 20th century: Even in the smartphone age, an automated female voice (“The next tone is…”) announces the current time at short intervals under number 0180 4100100.
– .
