From @doc.memex.co.uk:peter@memex.co.uk Mon Mar 28 04:36:25 1994 Return-Path: <@doc.memex.co.uk:peter@memex.co.uk> Received: from relay2.UU.NET by elsie.nci.nih.gov (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA12705; Mon, 28 Mar 94 04:36:22 EST Received: from young.cs.strath.ac.uk by relay2.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AAwjdu24981; Mon, 28 Mar 94 04:36:08 -0500 Received: from doc.memex.co.uk by young.cs.strath.ac.uk id aa20721; 28 Mar 94 10:34 +0100 Received: by doc.memex.co.uk (4.1/memex_18) id AA05804; Mon, 28 Mar 94 10:32:19 BST Date: Mon, 28 Mar 94 10:32:19 BST From: Peter Ilieve <peter@memex.co.uk> Message-Id: <9403280932.AA05804@doc.memex.co.uk> To: ado@elsie.nci.nih.gov Subject: EU Summer Time update Status: RO

I now have a copy of the proposal for the 7th EC directive on summer time arrangements (COM (93) 439 final, 27 September 1993). This is not yet a formal directive, treat this as advance warning, some dates may still change.

I what looks like a triumph of British obduracy over the poor benighted foreigners it is proposed to move to a common end date of the 4th Sunday in October from 1997 so the foreigners will have their winter benightment postponed by a month. The EC Commission actually asked its tame polling organisation to conduct one of its Eurobarometer surveys which showed `that European public opinion is very much in favour of having summer time extended until the end of October'.

The dates proposed are:

1995: last Sunday in March (26 March) to last Sunday in September (24 Sep) (UK & Eire ending on 4th Sunday in October (22 Oct)) 1996: last Sunday in March (31 March) to last Sunday in September (29 Sep) (UK & Eire ending on 4th Sunday in October (27 Oct)) 1997: last Sunday in March (30 March) to 4th Sunday in October (26 Oct) 1998: last Sunday in March (29 March) to 4th Sunday in October (25 Oct)

The UK/Eire end date of 22 October conflicts with your current rule of Oct Sun>=23, and the historical UK formula of Sun after 4th Sat. The last time 4th Sun and Sun after 4th Sat differed was in 1989, when 29 October was used. That year was covered by a UK Summer Time Order for only a single year and it looks as though there was a matching 4th EC directive for just this year. I don't have the text of the 5th EC directive (for 1990--92) but my guess would be it said 4th Sun. To maintain strict historical accuracy you could start a new UK ending rule of Oct Sun>=22 in 1990. A similar rule will be needed for all the -Eur rules from 1997.

Negotiations about joinging the EU have been concluded with Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden and if the current argument among the existing members about consequential changes in voting rules can be resolved they should join on 1 Jan 1995, and will presumably use the same summer time rules as the existing members. I don't know what they do now.

As I said, this is only a proposal at present. The EC information office in Edinburgh could give a guesstimate of when the final version might emerge. The Home Office guessed at the end of May. I will keep you posted.

Peter Ilieve peter@memex.co.uk