EU seeks to scrap seasonal clock changes in 2019

The European Union will scrap the twice-yearly seasonal clock change across the bloc from October 2019, leaving member states to decide by April whether they will stick permanently to summer or winter time, the European Commission said on Friday.

Since 1996, EU law has required all EU countries to move forward by an hour on the last Sunday of March and back by an hour on the final Sunday in October.

"There will be no more seasonal clock changes as of the end of October 2019," Commissioner Violeta Bulc told a news conference on Friday, acknowledging that this relied on others following the Commission's "ambitious" schedule.

The proposal follows an EU survey drawing in a record 4.6 million responses and showing 84 percent of them opposed to seasonal clock changes.

The Commission also says seasonal time switches are outdated, implemented during World War One...