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We are approaching the transition to winter time 2020. The winter and summer time system, still in force, implies a time adjustment of the clocks each spring and fall. Winter time is, however, considered standard time.
The introduction of daylight saving time was aimed at increasing the number of hours that people benefit from natural sunlight and was extremely advantageous for those who once worked in agriculture. European countries have adopted this system in the last century to save energy, especially during war or oil market crises in the 1970s.
In summer the clock is moved forward one hour (3:00 is 4:00), while in winter the operation is reversed, the clocks are turned back one hour and 4:00 is 3 o’clock. : 00.
The transition to winter time 2020 will take place on the last weekend of October, that is, the night of October 24 to 25, when 4:00 will become 3:00. It is the night in which, it is said, “we sleep more”, being October 25 the longest of the year, because, practically, it has 25 hours.
During winter time, the difference between Romanian official time and universal time (GMT) will be two hours (compared to three hours when it is summer time).
The European Commission has proposed to abandon the time change
In 2001, the EU adopted regulations to standardize the different dates so far that member countries changed their time. Therefore, it was decided that all Member States should switch to summer time on the last Sunday in March and to winter time on the last Sunday in October.
In 2018, however, there was a discussion at the European level about giving up the time change, which also has some unpleasant effects. It involves a change in daily routine and affects some people, including health.
The European Commission also launched a public consultation, which received 4.6 million responses, of which 84 percent were in favor of giving up the time change system, while 16 percent wanted to keep the system.
Consequently, the European Commission has proposed abandoning the seasonal change of time in Europe, giving Member States the freedom to decide, once and for all, whether they want to apply daylight saving time permanently.
How long does the system stay with the time change
The proposal to abandon the time change should have come into effect in 2019, but some European countries have opposed it, so the deadline has been postponed until 2021: states that decide to keep permanently Summer time would make the last change in this regard on the last Sunday in March 2021 (March 27-28, 2021), and those who prefer to stay in winter time (standard time) will make the final change on the last Sunday of October 2021 (October 30-31, 2021).
Normally, the countries of the European Union should have informed the Commission of their choice before April 2020, and then coordinate with the executive of the EU bloc so that individual decisions do not affect the functioning of the single market. But the special situation after the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has changed priorities.
In any case, the final decision must be made by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. The two institutions must reach a agreement before the proposal is put into practice.
On March 26, 2019, the European Parliament adopted its position on the European Commission proposal, supporting the idea of waiving the time change. The Council of the European Union has not yet finalized its position.
There are currently three standard time zones in the EU: Western European Time (Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom), Central European Time (17 Member States) and Eastern European Time (Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia ). , Estonia and Finland).
