This morning at 04:00 (local time) we switched to winter time and turned the clocks back one hour.
The change is in implementation of Directive 2000/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union of January 19, 2021, the Bulgarian Institute of Metrology recalls.
The switch to winter or summer time is regulated by Decree 94 of the Council of Ministers of March 13, 1997, according to information from the "Reference" department at BTA. According to the decree, winter time is introduced every year on the night before the last Sunday in October, with clocks being moved back one hour, and summer time is switched forward one hour on the last Sunday in March.
In March 2019, the European Parliament voted to stop the practice of switching between summer and winter time by one hour in spring and autumn by 2021, according to a report on the EP website. MEPs were responding to the results of a public consultation by the European Commission, in which 4.6 million people took part, with 84% of respondents in favour of ending this practice. However, the subsequent legislative proposal for a coordinated end to this practice did not meet with the same ambition in the EU Council, which has not yet expressed its own joint position, according to the European Parliament website.
This week, the debate on whether to change the clocks twice a year was resumed at the initiative of Spain, reports the Spanish agency EFE, quoted by BTA. The practice, first introduced by the German Empire during the First World War to save energy, was resumed after the oil crisis in the 1970s and harmonized within the European Community in 1980, the information recalls.
Every autumn, however, the debates about the meaning of this practice flare up with renewed vigor. Spain considers the time change to be outdated and has officially requested a resumption of the discussion within the European Union, putting the issue on the agenda of a meeting of energy ministers in Luxembourg.
„Support for the abolition of the time change varies across EU countries. In Germany, 70% of citizens consider it “pointless“, according to data from the "Forza" agency. In Sweden (58%) and Denmark (56%) the majority is also against it, according to a 2023 "Jugov" survey. Portugal, Greece and Cyprus have previously declared themselves against the abolition of the current system, while France has said it is open to discussion.
For a change to be adopted, a qualified majority in the EU Council is required, i.e. support from at least 15 member states, representing 65% of the EU population.
Globally, around 70 countries, covering a third of the planet's population, still change their time,“, EFE recalls in its information.