Since 2019, the discussions about permanently switching to winter time have been heating up. The people in Germany, as well as the political parties have been voting positively for this change.
On Sunday the 28th of October, people in Germany as well as other European countries that follow the Central European Summer Time (CEST) got an extra hour to sleep as clocks switched back an hour at 3 a.m
The process of switching back the clocks was started in Germany in 1980 soon after the global oil crisis. The idea was to save energy by gaining an extra hour of sunlight. Since then the act has been followed by Germans by changing their clocks twice a year in October and March.
EU parliament drafted a law to scrap the DST
On March 26, 2019, the European Parliament voted in to support the EU Committee draft order to stop changing the clocks in the European Union. While the draft law was opposed by 192 members, 410 members voted in favor of it.
The aim was initially to implement the law by 2021. However, Europe, like the rest of the world, was affected by Covid-19 and the leaders were busy handling the pandemic.
Since Germany, like other European countries, switched to the winter time, the discussions have been heated up once again. The negotiations as well as the final decision is yet to be made, the likelihood of the EU to scrap daylight saving in 2021 is very narrow.
