Brussels, 02/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - The bitterly cold weather currently affecting northern Europe has overturned our human, animal and plant way of life. It has meant that the EU has adopted a European directive to include a new season from 2014 on. With some 10° below seasonal averages, Brussels has undertaken to readjust the seasonal calendar to more suitably reflect the climatic conditions experienced by Europeans.
The “Sprinter” neologism formed from the contraction of “Spring” and “Winter”, will begin on 1 February to end on 30 April. The budgetary process of the European Semester will, of course, be adjusted to suit, as will Vivaldi's “Four Seasons”, and Europe-bound migrating birds with EU passport will be informed of the change through “relevant extracts from the EU Official Journal” that will be “posted in wildlife sanctuaries around the world”, the Irish Presidency of the Council of Ministers points out in a press release on Monday 1 April. The agreement was not easy to reach and “certain provisions of the new directive will be frozen for northern member states” while “a sunset clause is to be included for those further south”. (JK/transl.jl)