The European Parliament on Tuesday voted with a large majority to end daylight savings time in the EU by 2021. Under the proposals, each member state would decide whether to continue with twice-a-year clock changes or stick permanently to summer or winter time. Read more: European Parliament set to end EU-wide daylight savings time Clock ticking All 28 member states would need to inform the European Commission of their choice ahead of the proposed switch, by April 2020. They would then coordinate with the bloc's executive so that their decisions do not disrupt the functioning of the single market. Last year, the European Commission proposed abolishing the seasonal clock change after an EU-wide online poll showed overwhelming support. It has been accused, however, of rushing through the vote ahead of European Parliament elections in May. Some 3 million of the 4.6 million survey responses came from Germany, leading to complaints the European Commission wanted to impose German will on the other states through sheer populism. Russia switched to permanent summer time in 2011 in an attempt to improve citizens' well-being but shifted to permanent winter time three years later after public complaints. Read more: Summertime: What a joke! Daylight saving time: What's it all about? DST in the EU Spring forward, fall back. Sound familiar? The catchphrase describes the practice of daylight saving time (DST), or moving the clock forward by one hour in summer to make evening daylight last longer. The practice is common in North America and Europe, with people changing their clocks at the start of spring and then reverting them back in the middle of fall. Daylight saving time: What's it all about? Thanks to a love of insects While some may have heard that Benjamin Franklin, an 18th-century founding father of the United States, invented DST, credit actually goes to New Zealand entomologist George Hudson. He valued after-work hours of sun to collect insects, which led him in 1895 to propose shifting clocks two hours forward in summer and two hours back in winter. His idea was not very popular. Daylight saving time: What's it all about? Saving energy in WWI Hudson's idea took some time to catch on — and when it did, it was in a totally different part of the world. In 1916, the German and Austrian Empires ordered that all clocks be moved forward by one hour on April 30 in order to try to save fuel for the war effort by minimizing the need for artificial lighting. The UK, France and the US soon followed, but countries dropped the shift after WWI ended. Daylight saving time: What's it all about? EU clock coordination begins DST was reinstituted in much of Europe during WWII, including in Germany under Adolf Hitler. National practices varied greatly through the 1970s energy crisis. In 1980, the EU's forerunner began to coordinate divergent clock changes. Since 2001, EU states have been obliged to switch to summer time on the last Sunday in March and back to standard time, or winter time, on the last Sunday in October. Daylight saving time: What's it all about? EU calls for ending DST In 2018, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pledged to do away with the bloc's seasonal time changes in 2019. Member states could choose to keep summer or winter time. His cited an online EU survey in which 84 percent of respondents voted to end clock changes. However, only 4.6 million people voted in the poll and nearly three-quarters of all votes were from Germany. Author: Cristina Burack kw/rt (dpa, Reuters) Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.<doc-sep>Most countries outside Europe and North America do not adjust their clocks. European lawmakers have voted to stop observing daylight saving time beginning in 2021, according to Reuters. European Parliament voted 410 to 192 in favor of operating on a single time on Tuesday. A parliament report in favor of ending the practice of adjusting clocks twice a year stated that studies link the practice to cardiovascular disease and weakened immune systems because they interrupt biological clocks, Reuters reported. European Union law requires all countries within the bloc to participate the seasonal time shift. The decision is not final, but rather the beginning of discussions about the issue, on which individual countries have yet to take a stance. Daylight saving time was invented to make the best use of daylight hours and has been used throughout much of the U.S., Canada and Europe since World War I. In Europe, where it is referred to as "summer time," it begins on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. Countries in the European Union would not be able to change their clocks twice a year, but they would be free to decide which time zone they want to be in. In the U.S., Hawaii and Arizona do not observe daylight saving time, and other states are considering making the switch as well. Most countries outside North America and Europe do not observe daylight saving time. In 2011, Russia switched to permanent summer time but later shifted to permanent winter time in 2014 after public complaints, according to Reuters. ABC News' Fergal Gallagher and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
Full disclosure: I feel that in a technologically advanced world where commerce operates 24/7, daylight savings time (DST) has lost its usefulness, if it had any to begin with. That also seems to be the view of the European Parliament as it has just voted to abolish DST (called Summer Time there). Last year we reported that the European Commission had proposed ending daylight savings time in EU member states. The proposed scrapping of the seasonal time change was set to occur on March 31, 2019, but was waiting on approval by the European Parliament. After months of debate, the ruling body has come to a decision. Parliament ruled in favor of abolishing daylight savings time across Europe. Bloomberg notes, member states will now have until 2021 to decide whether they will remain on summer time or winter time. The change was partly prompted by a survey conducted among 4.6 million Europeans, 84 percent of which said they were opposed to seasonal time shifts. Public opinion was not the only reasoning. "Our main finding is that — contrary to the policy's intent — DST increases residential electricity demand. Estimates of the overall increase are approximately 1 percent." One of the cited motives the practice was started was to conserve energy. However, recent studies have shown energy savings between regions on daylight time and those that stay on standard time are negligible to nil and may actually increase energy consumption in some cases. There is little to no evidence that seasonal time shifts of one hour create any tangible benefits. On the contrary, the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health have published numerous papers on the negative impacts of daylight savings. More than one study has shown that fatal traffic accidents increase during the shift to and from DST. Other research has linked the time change to poor work performance. There is even one postulating increased cancer risks due to the time shifts fouling up normal circadian rhythms. Daylight savings time also has been a thorn in Apple's side on numerous occasions going back to at least 2011. Studies aside, very few people in Europe, or even in the United States for that matter, see any valid point for changing their clocks twice a year. In the US, Arizona abolished DST in 1968 and has not financially collapsed, fallen into the center of the earth, or suffered any other imaginary boogieman. So kudos to the EU for finally abandoning an archaic and useless custom. Lead Image via BT