The first draft compromise of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the Commission's proposal to end the clock change, dated 16 October and discussed at the meeting of the Council's Land Transport Working Party on Monday 22 October, suggests ending this biannual time zone change in 2021.
This text is part of the Commission's proposal of 12 September last, which recommended changing for the last time to 'summer time' on 31 March 2019, with the Member States then having the option of switching for the last time to 'winter time' on 27 October 2019, depending on the time slot chosen by them (see EUROPE 12094). This proposal is symbolically important for the Commission, which presented it following a public consultation in which 4.6 million people took part (see EUROPE 12056).
The Austrian Presidency of the Council suggests that the provisions of the Directive should take effect in 2021, two years later than the Commission wishes, which could leave a real transposition deadline for Member States, unlike the original proposal. The national delegations would have welcomed this point with some satisfaction.
Vienna is also of the opinion that the Commission's recommendation to give Member States the possibility to reverse their decision to choose a time zone subject to prior notification to the Commission should be maintained. However, the compromise suggests that notification should be made at least 18 months before the time zone change takes place, with the Commission advocating six months.
In addition to questions of date, it would appear that States are asking the Commission to provide them with more information and details, including legal details, in order to consider the end of this time change. And delegations would ask that the impacts be made more explicit by the institution, which is a prerequisite for speeding up the negotiations.
A discussion on this subject will take place at the informal meeting of Transport Ministers on 29 and 30 October in Graz. We should then know a little more about whether or not we can move towards a general direction for the December Council meeting. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)