European citizens will be able to say ir opinion in coming weeks of EU Commission to abolish time change. By 16 August an online questionnaire was unlocked, competent authority in Brussels said. Participants may also indicate wher y prefer winter or daylight saving time in event of an abolition. The Commission intends to get a picture of wher majority of citizens are in favour of or against time changeover. The questionnaire is also available in German.
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The European Parliament asked EU Commission in February to examine relevant directive. If authority comes to conclusion that disadvantages of time changeover outweigh it, it could submit a proposal to EU States and Parliament to amend law.
The changeover in today’s form was introduced in Germany in 1980. She had goal of saving energy. Since 1996 people in all EU countries have been returning clocks one hour before and on last Sunday in March an hour before and on October Sunday.
The benefits are controversial. According to federal Environment Agency, Germans actually switch lights off less often in evening due to time changeover. However, spring and autumn mornings are more heated. Medical practitioners also see health risks. Sleep researchers say that sensitive people may have problems with temporal back and forth and suffer from insomnia and lack of appetite.
A commission spokesman said that studies on possible health problems caused by time changeover to today did not allow clear conclusions. Therefore, decision must now be taken “on basis of or criteria”.
Surveys have often come to conclusion that a majority of Germans want abolition of time change. In a representative study of Forsa Institute on behalf of health insurance company DAK, 73 percent of respondents did not speak out against readjustment of clocks until March.
