Comments on the EC summer time directive and a change request

[Peter Ilieve]

Chris Carrier asks when the current (7th) summer time directive expires.
Answer: the last year it covers is 1997.

In response to Monty Solomon's exerpts from RISKS, the rule of `start
on last Sunday in March, end on last Sunday in October' is specified
in the directive, so it is more than just a de facto standard. Dik T. Winter
is correct, the directive is a hard and fast law in the EU. However, remember
that you are dealing with politicians here. If they feel like changing
the hard and fast laws, they will, and the current 7th directive is
living proof, with its change from September to October.

Proposals for the eighth directive were supposed to have been produced
by the Commission by 1 Jan 96. They have not yet appeared (I asked just
before Easter). As this 1 Jan 96 date was specified in the 7th directive
this also shows that the Commission can break the hard and fast laws
as it wishes.

Finally, I would like to request a change in the Europe file, changing
the name of the Rule for the EU countries from EC to EU. This European
entity has been called various things in English over the years, Common
Market, European Economic Community (EEC), European Community (EC);
but it is now almost universally referred to as the European Union.
This trend will undoubtedy continue as more countries join.

Things are slightly confused by the formal title of the Commission
still seeming to be `The Commission of the European Communities',
which I think harks back to the very early days when there were several
`Communities'. I think these were the Coal, Iron & Steel Community,
EURATOM, and I think one more. The Commission seem to be renaming themselves,
at least on recent blurb I get from them, as the European Commission.
This will allow them to steal the abbreviation EC for themselves now that
the whole thing is called EU. We will then still get EC Directives, coming
from the Commission.

Enough of this non-tzone digression. Can I have Rule EC -> Rule EU please?


		Peter Ilieve		peter at aldie.co.uk