From Saturday night to Sunday morning, nearly 700 million Europeans set their clocks back sixty minutes. This shift to “winter time” is far from unanimously popular, especially among shopkeepers, children, motorists, and outdoor workers. Should and can we consider abolishing this time change?
“Tonight, we will gain an extra hour of sleep…”. As every year on the same date, the traditional phrase announcing the switch to winter time was on everyone’s lips, starting with journalists. But for many, this extra hour of rest is the only good thing about a time change that seems to create more problems than it solves.
Introduced in France in 1976 during the oil crisis, daylight saving time was adopted for economic and energy reasons: theoretically, an extra hour of sunlight means one less hour of heating and lighting. The years following the implementation of this measure confirmed this principle. Furthermore, the French immediately embraced these sixty additional minutes of daylight.
Because it is hard to find any disadvantage to moving our clocks forward by an hour: An extra hour at the beach for holiday-goers, an extra hour of service on the terrace for bars and restaurants, an extra hour to play outside for children… Only the early risers are deprived of some sun in the morning, but objectively, the consequences are minimal.
So why not keep daylight saving time all year round? Perhaps today, not everyone supports such a measure. At a time when Brussels is increasingly acting as the boss, a European harmonization also seems compromised in this area.
In London, specialists have shown that the number of road fatalities, especially among pedestrians, is always higher in November (winter time) than in October (summer time). In Scotland and other northern countries, there is a clear opposition to having daylight saving time all year round, as it would mean the sun would not rise before 9 am in some regions.
While waiting for further discussion that may one day be crucial (for energy reasons), we have just switched to winter time. And as you’ve all noticed, it’s already getting dark at 6 PM… This almost makes some feel melancholic, even depressed. Longing for summer!
Nicolas Pelazza
