EU summer-time arrangements under Directive 2000/84/EC Ex-post impact assessment EU summer-time arrangements under Directive 2000/84/EC Study On 27 June 2017, the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) requested an ex-post evaluation of Directive 2000/84/EC, which regulates the time change between winter and summer time in the EU. According to the request the evaluation should constitute a follow-up to the joint public hearing on summer time the JURI, ITRE and TRAN committees held on 24 March 2015 and should take into account the most recent research findings regarding the effects of daylight saving time on different aspects of the economy, health and safety. Moreover, it should analyse certain aspects linked to the 'better regulation' initiative. This analysis was prepared in-house by the Ex-Post Evaluation Unit of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, within the European Parliament's Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services. It aims to outline the rationale and application of Directive 2000/84/EC, examines the evidence available in the various areas daylight saving time touches upon and seeks to thereby provide an impartial contribution to the debate. Abstract The purpose of summer time is to capitalise on natural daylight. By turning the clock one hour forward as the days get longer in spring, sunset is delayed by this same hour, until the clock is set back again in autumn. This practice is applied in over 60 countries worldwide. In the EU, Member States draw on a long tradition of daylight saving time (DST), and many have developed their own DST schemes. Harmonisation attempts began in the 1970s, to facilitate the effective operation of the internal market. Today, the uniform EU-wide application of DST is governed by Directive 2000/84/EC; most European third countries have aligned their summer-time schemes with that of the EU. Much academic research has been invested in examining the benefits and inconveniences of DST. It appears that: - summer time benefits the internal market (notably the transport sector) and outdoor leisure activities, and it also generates marginal savings in energy consumption; - the impact on other economic sectors remains largely inconclusive; - with regard to inconveniences, health research associates DST with disruption to the human biorhythm ('circadian rhythm'). EU summer-time arrangements under Directive 2000/84/EC AUTHOR Irmgard Anglmayer, Ex-Post Evaluation Unit ABOUT THE PUBLISHER This paper has been drawn up by the Ex-Post Evaluation Unit of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, within the Directorate–General for Parliamentary Research Services of the Secretariat of the European Parliament. To contact the Unit, please e-mail [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN This document is available on the internet at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official position of the Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. © European Union, 2017. Manuscript completed in October 2017. Brussels © European Union, 2017. PE 611.006 ISBN: 978-92-846-1998-6 DOI: 10.2861/380995 CAT: QA-05-17-052-EN-N EU summer-time arrangements under Directive 2000/84/EC Table of Contents Executive summary ......................................................................................................... 1 1. The EU's summer-time arrangements .......................................................... 2 1.1. The essence of Directive 2000/84/EC ........................................................... 2 1.2. The historical process that led to Directive 2000/84/EC ........................... 2 1.3. The compulsory nature of the Summer-Time Directive ............................ 3 2. Daylight saving time in context ..................................................................... 4 2.1. The original purpose of summer time .......................................................... 4 2.2. International DST observance ........................................................................ 5 2.3. The link between geographical position and time ...................................... 7 2.3.1. Latitude and daylight .............................................................................. 7 2.3.2. Longitude and time zone ........................................................................ 8 2.3.3. The implications of these factors for EU territory ............................... 9 3. Activities of the EU institutions ................................................................... 11 3.1. Commission studies and reports ................................................................. 11 3.2. European Parliament ..................................................................................... 14 3.2.1. Discussion of the directives .................................................................. 14 3.2.2. The public hearing of 24 March 2015: the issues at stake ................. 15 3.2.3. Plenary debates based on oral questions ............................................ 17 4. Member States' views .................................................................................... 17 5. Public opinion ................................................................................................ 18 5.1. Surveys ............................................................................................................ 18 5.2. Petitions and citizens' initiatives .................................................................. 19 6. Sectoral implications of DST: the latest research ....................................... 21 6.1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 21 6.2. Internal market ............................................................................................... 22 6.2.1. Transport ................................................................................................. 23 6.2.2. Communications and commerce ......................................................... 23 6.3. Individual economic sectors ......................................................................... 24 6.3.1. Energy ...................................................................................................... 24 6.3.2. Agriculture .............................................................................................. 25 6.3.3. Leisure, sports and tourism .................................................................. 26 6.4. Health .............................................................................................................. 27 6.5. Safety ............................................................................................................... 28 6.5.1. Road safety .............................................................................................. 28 6.5.2. Public safety and crime ......................................................................... 30 7. EU summer-time arrangements in the light of 'Better Regulation'......... 30 7.1. Impact assessment ......................................................................................... 31 7.2. The internal market and choice of legal basis ............................................ 32 8. Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 32 8.1. The effects of the directive by sector ........................................................... 33 8.2. Possible future changes to the current DST regime .................................. 34 Annexes Annex 1: Historical overview of summer-time observance in the EU-28 Annex 2: Comparison of the time of sunrise/sunset in the EU-28 at summer/winter solstice EU summer-time arrangements under Directive 2000/84/EC Executive summary The purpose of summer time is to shift an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening during the summer months to provide more daylight hours after work. Most EU Member States have been applying summer time continuously since the 1970s or 1980s, initially according to their own schedules. To prevent the internal market, and in particular the transport sector, from being hampered by uncoordinated national schedules, summer-time arrangements were gradually harmonised under EU law. This process began in 1975 and was completed in 2001 by means of Directive 2000/84/EC, the ninth Summer-Time Directive. This paper puts summer time – or daylight saving time (DST), as it is commonly referred to – first into context: it recalls the initial purpose of summer time and shows its worldwide observance today. It also explains the variations in the actual effect of DST across EU Member States. Indeed, DST makes more of a difference in the South where the sun sets relatively early in summer (e.g. Greece) than in the North (e.g. Sweden). These differences are due to the relationship between time and daylight on the one hand, and countries' geographical position and choice of time zone on the other. Furthermore, this analysis looks at the