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