[tz] BBC: Clock changes: EU backs ending daylight saving

[John Wilcock]

Le 31/08/2018 à 16:05, Philip Paeps a écrit :
> On 2018-08-31 13:33:42 (+0100), Marshall Eubanks wrote:
>> In a consultation paper it said one option would be to let each member
>> state decide whether to go for permanent summer or winter time. That
>> would be "a sovereign decision of each member state", Commission
>> spokesman Alexander Winterstein explained on Friday.
> That'll go well ...

Assuming that was intended ironically, why? Countries realise that they 
need to balance convenience for their citizens against the importance of 
coordinating time with their trading partners.

I can't see France or any of the Benelux countries agreeing to permanent 
UTC+2 (which would be around two hours ahead of local solar time), nor 
can I see Germany or Italy deciding to be on a different time zone to 
France and Benelux. So the heart of Europe will IMO stay on UTC+1. Spain 
might decide to do the geographically logical thing and join Portugal on 
UTC+0, but I think it is more likely to stay on UTC+1 too. Likewise, 
various eastern European countries "ought" to change to UTC+2, but would 
almost certainly make the decision as a bloc rather than piecemeal. And 
the Nordic countries, which share latitude-related issues, would be 
highly likely to make a joint decision too.

FWIW,
John