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79% of people in Lithuania are against adjusting clocks for daylight savings. Photograph: TASS / Barcroft Images
79% of people in Lithuania are against adjusting clocks for daylight savings. Photograph: TASS / Barcroft Images

Lithuania calls on EU to stop adjusting clocks for daylight savings

This article is more than 6 years old

Advisor to the prime minister says discussions will start with the EU about whether daylight saving is ‘still relevant’

Lithuania has said that it would push the European Union to abolish its law on daylight saving time, claiming that most people find it annoying to have to adjust their clocks twice a year.

The Baltic nation’s parliament voted 76 to seven, with seven abstentions, in favour of the government’s proposal to open negotiations with the EU Commission.

“The government decided to initiate discussions within the EU about whether the directive is still relevant,” Deividas Matulionis, adviser to prime minister Saulius Skvernelis, said.

Lithuania’s foreign and communication ministers will soon start consultations with the EU executive and member states.

An opinion poll published this year showed that 79% of people in the nation of 2.8 million were against the annual ritual of adjusting clocks forward by one hour in the spring and then back an hour in the autumn.

Proponents of daylight saving time, adopted at the beginning of the 20th century, say the longer evening daylight hours in the summer help save energy and bolster productivity.

The European Commission said it was “currently examining the summertime question based on all available evidence”.

An EU official said EU-wide daylight saving rules help avoid problems for the transport, logistics and energy sectors, and said studies showed they have “led to some energy savings”.

But Matulionis said that some people cannot easily adapt to the change and feel it has a short-term negative impact on their health, adding that there was no conclusive proof on the economic benefits.

Senior politicians in fellow EU states Finland, Poland and Sweden have also criticised the ritual, which is used across most of North America and Europe.

More on this story

More on this story

  • Forward thinking: why daylight savings is here to stay in UK

  • When do the clocks go back to end British summer time?

  • Lib Dem peer calls for ‘double summer time’ to ease cost of living crisis

  • My sleepy brain loves the sound of permanent daylight savings. But do scientists agree?

  • ‘No more switching clocks’: Senate passes act to make daylight saving time permanent

  • When do the clocks go forward in the UK – and why do they change?

  • Readers reply: why do we wait until late March to put the clocks forward?

  • Why do we wait until late March to put the clocks forward?

  • UK clocks go back – but 2020's change won't mean extra drinking time

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