[tz] European Parliament votes to drop DST by 2021, leaving it to member states

[Tim Parenti]

On Tue, 26 Mar 2019 at 12:00, Clive D.W. Feather <clive at davros.org> wrote:

> > According to
> >
> https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/summary.do?id=1576465&t=e&l=en
>
> > (the committee report on which the full European Parliament voted
> > today), only the last two options would be permitted; no further
> > twice-yearly changes would be permitted.
>
> That seems more likely; changes to the difference between countries cause
> far more problems than having a constant difference. That's why they
> harmonized the change date in the first place.


That certainly makes a lot more sense than what the article I was quoting
suggested!  Summarizing:

Member states are explicitly encouraged to work together, which is
encouraging, and each must notify the Commission of their (initial)
decision by 1 April 2020.  Then, if significant disruptions to the common
market are envisaged (perhaps e.g., an island of CEST/UTC+2 in a sea of
CET/UTC+1), the Commission then informs the member states of the potential
issue.  But ultimately, *each member state can choose to maintain or
reverse its initial decision until 31 October 2020.*

It looks like those choosing to stay on summer time will "spring forward"
for the last time on 28 March 2021; those choosing to stay on winter time
will "fall back" for the last time on 31 October 2021.  Since everyone will
spring forward in March 2021, this means that *we should have roughly a
year's notice* before any timestamps are actually affected by only some
states falling back in October 2021.  It's good that that got through, at
least.

If the situation gets too complicated (presumably resulting in an
inharmonious time zone "patchwork"), the Commission can delay
implementation by a year while seeking a legislative solution.  The success
of the scheme will also be evaluated by 2025.

--
Tim Parenti
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