These schedules were chosen because they are the ones where train and other public transport traffic is kept to a minimum, thus minimizing misalignments from the scheduled daily schedules. Note that summer time starts at the same time throughout the Union: if the change between 2 and 3 takes place in Central Europe, it takes place between one and 2 in the Republic of Ireland and Portugal, and between 3 and 4 in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. Daylight saving time means enjoying natural light for an extra hour in the afternoon, reducing the need for artificial lighting. This makes it possible to take advantage of the presence of sunshine in the period from March to October to reduce electricity consumption. But how much would we save if we kept daylight saving time for the rest of the year? According to a study by the Conflavoro PMI study center, summer time could save 2.7 billion euros in 2023 alone. The calculations are based on the current cost of the 147 hours of sunshine obtained by maintaining summer time. Given the increase in costs over the last period, the savings would be even more substantial than those achieved so far. Does one hour really have that much effect? “If you arrive late from time to time, like on Saturday, nothing serious happens: you can easily recover the next day or you will have a little more sleep or headaches. However, in the transition from winter time to daylight saving time and vice versa, it is the circadian rhythm that changes. This is an extraordinary fact that leads to a change in the body not for a day or two, but for six months. After that, everything has to be adjusted,” Farnetani explains.
For political reasons, winter time is de facto suspended in some countries and summer time is introduced throughout the year. In many countries, therefore, more direct terminology is used to refer to summer time or “summer time”. A more accurate name, because it refers to the purpose of daylight saving time and therefore has nothing to do with the reference to the summer season, is that of “summer time” (DST). Next weekend, solar time returns, in the night between Saturday 29 and Sunday 30, we should move the hands back 60 minutes, from 3:00 to 2:00. This year again, the question of reducing the length of the day has returned to the front of the judiciary, between the controversies of those who want to keep it and those who want to abolish it. The system, which alternates 5 months of winter time with 7 months of summer time, has shaped our lives since the sixties. The impact on electricity and gas consumption is undeniable. But at a historic time when rising bills are forcing the world`s population to find alternatives to consume less energy, the hypothesis of changing the trading system to always maintain daylight saving time is gaining ground. At the time of the debate in the European Parliament, there was a split.
As the request to abolish summer time did not receive a majority, another motion was adopted (with 384 yes and 153 no) asking “the Commission to carry out a thorough evaluation” of Directive 2000/83/EC, which regulates the transition from winter to summer time since 2001. The investigation followed and now Juncker`s rough indication. But letting each state decide for itself is risky. More hours of light with the advantage of more sunlight for our body. But summer time is also about saving energy and saving. If you move your hands forward for an hour, the use of electric lighting will be delayed. This means less cost for bills, but also benefits for the environment. In ancient societies and before the spread of clocks, the organization of agricultural civilizations was not based on fixed biorhythms as in modern industrialized civilizations. The peasants, who constituted the great majority of the population, always rose at dawn, unconsciously following the gradual advance of spring or late autumn: in the Roman Empire, the so-called previous hour was always that which followed the sunrise, regardless of when this astronomical event took place. In modern times, daylight saving time only partially reproduces this centuries-old change in human biorhythms according to the seasons. [5] One of the reasons why there has long been talk of abolishing the time change is its impact on people`s well-being and habits, which is also supported by scientific studies. While shorter days can cause symptoms of depression, the arrival of daylight saving time with more hours of daylight and less sleep brings temporary decompensation comparable to a small jet lag.