European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker is expected to announce a decision on summer time on Friday as media reports said an EU online survey has concluded that a vast majority are against switching between summer and winter time.
“There was a public survey, millions answered and are of the view that it’s the summertime that should be used all the time in the future, and so it will be,” Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF ahead of the publication of the results. “People want this, we’re doing this,” Juncker said.
Earlier, citing well-informed sources in Brussels, German newspaper Westfalenpost had reported that more than 80% of respondents to the largest online survey in EU history are in favour of abolishing changing the clocks in summer and winter.
Around 4.6 million people took part in the survey, which ran between July 4 and August 16.
Under daylight saving time clocks move forward by one hour during summer months. Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said the survey was “not a referendum” and that the European Parliament would also have its say.
Summertime in its current form was introduced in order to save energy. Since 2002, the changeover has been uniformly regulated throughout the bloc.
Politico said the EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc will compile a formal report ahead of consultations with the European Parliament and relevant stakeholders.
The consultation is not binding. It followed a February request from the European Parliament to carry out a thorough assessment of summer time arrangements.
Several countries, such as Finland, Lithuania, Sweden or Poland, have said they would actively push the European Union to abolish its directive on daylight saving time.
Edited by Bouli Hadjioannou
