On Sunday, it will return to “normal” time

Summer ends this Sunday, October 25: it’s 2 a.m. at 3 a.m., so an extra hour of sleep is needed. Abolishing the annual time change is currently the subject of political debate, especially in neighboring states. However, not all decisions have yet been taken at the EU level and in each state.

Switzerland is following developments in the situation, the Federal Institute of Metrology writes in a press release. “It will carefully study the relevance of adopting official timings and its interest for our country. Until further notice, the current regulations will remain in force.

We know that this potential elimination will not be decided before next spring, so on Sunday, March 26, 2023, we will return to the summer season. However, if the EU decides to keep only one hour, there is a good chance that Switzerland will follow suit. Because when Central European Time was introduced at the end of the 19th century and time change was introduced in Switzerland in the 1980s, the Federal Council and Parliament agreed to an official time agreement with our neighboring states. “This decision was mainly motivated by economic reasons. An official time different from that of our neighbors would make Switzerland an island, with all the consequences this difference could have on business transactions, transport, tourism and communication.

But for the Metrological Institute, we are not going back to winter time, but to standard time. “In reality, there is only standard time and daylight saving time. Standard time in Switzerland has been Central European Time for over 125 years.

Winter or ordinary time, the question is solved by removing this change. The European Commission proposed this abolition in 2018 for 2019. But the European Parliament voted in March 2019 to postpone it to 2021 and the methods had to be agreed with the Council of Heads of State and Government.

Since then, between Brexit and the global Covid pandemic, the question has remained unresolved. One of the difficulties is encouraging countries to harmonize their legal time (summer or winter) to avoid ending up with a patchwork of time zones.

In France, an online consultation organized by the National Assembly in early 2019 received more than two million responses, overwhelmingly in favor of the time change decision (83.74%). More than 60% of participants said they had a “negative or very negative experience” of change. Regarding the time of stay throughout the year, 59% of them preferred summer.

Globally, many countries such as Argentina, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Russia or Armenia have already decided to abandon seasonal time changes.

First introduced in 1916 before being abandoned in 1944, this time change was reintroduced in France in September 1975. It was temporary and aimed at curbing energy consumption amid the oil crisis. With the war in Ukraine and the proliferation of calls for energy moderation, the issue of energy resources is back on the burning path, so the switch to winter time is beneficial. But is it true? In fact, the time shift has only a minimal effect on energy consumption.

A recent British study suggested that removing the clock change in October would save a household £400 (465 francs) a year because it would be longer in the evening, reducing demand at peak times.