The EU is set to end the practice of switching between summer and winter time after a survey found most EU citizens are against it.
More than 80 per cent of EU citizens wanted to abolish the bi-annual switch currently required by law, president Jean-Claude Juncker said on German television.
Juncker said the poll suggested that citizens preferred staying on summer time, adding he would put the plan to a debate among EU commissioners.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would decide today whether to scrap the law requiring members states to switch between summer and winter time
‘We carried out a survey, millions responded and believe that in future, summer time should be year-round, and that’s what will happen,’ he told public broadcaster ZDF, adding that the European Commission planned to decide on the matter later Friday.
‘I will recommend to the commission that, if you ask the citizens, then you have to do what the citizens say,’ said Juncker, speaking in German.
‘We will decide on this today, and then it will be the turn of the member states and the European Parliament.’
Any change would still need approval from national governments and European Parliament to become law.
Switch it up: Research has shown that switching from summer to winter time and vice versa disrupts sleep schedules and can impact productivity at work
EU law requires that citizens in all 28 EU countries move their clocks an hour forward on the last Sunday in March and switch back to winter time on the final Sunday in October.
But Finland, with the most northerly EU national capital, this year called for the EU to halt the practice, which critics say it can cause long-term health problems, especially among young children and elderly people.
Research has shown that the time change disrupts sleep schedules and can impact productivity at work.
Supporters say making the switch to give extra morning daylight in winter and evening light in summer can help reduce traffic accidents and save energy.
Outside the EU, a handful of European countries have stopped switching between summer and winter time, including Russia, Turkey, Belarus and Iceland.