The EU Commission is proposing to end the practice of adjusting clocks by an
hour in spring and autumn after a survey found most Europeans opposed
it.
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said millions "believe that
in future, summer time should be year-round, and that's what will
happen".
The Commission's proposal requires support from the 28 national
governments and MEPs to become law.
In the EU clocks switch between
winter and summer under daylight saving time.
A European Parliament
resolution says it is "crucial to maintain a unified EU time
regime".
However, the Commission has not yet drafted details of the
proposed change.
In a consultation paper it said one option would be to let
each member state decide whether to go for permanent summer or winter time. That
would be "a sovereign decision of each member state", Commission spokesman
Alexander Winterstein explained on Friday.
He stressed that the proposal
was "to no longer constrain member states into changing clocks twice per
year".
The UK is one of the 28 nations, but is due to leave the European
Union in March 2019. Any change would be unlikely to happen before
then.
Mr Winterstein rejected a suggestion the proposal could cause
particular difficulties in Ireland: "I don't see the link between our quest
which is undiminished, to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, and our
proposal, which will come in due course, to no longer constrain member states
into changing clocks twice per year.
"One pertains to the internal
market once adopted, the other initiative is to ensure the Good Friday Agreement
and other safeguards remain in place."
The Commission warns that
unco-ordinated time changes between member states would cause economic
harm.
In the public consultation, 84% of 4.6 million respondents called for
ending the spring and autumn clock change.
By far the biggest
response was in Germany and Austria (3.79% and 2.94% of the national population
respectively). The UK's response was lowest - 0.02% - but few Italians took
part, either (0.04%).
