At an informal meeting in Graz (Austria) on Monday 29 October, the European Union's Transport Ministers informed the European Commission of their scepticism about the advisability of ending the time change as from next year, without questioning the rationale for the proposal of 12 September last (see EUROPE 12094).
This confirms the positions expressed by the national delegations at the meeting of the ‘Land Transport’ working party of the Council of the European Union on 22 October, which was itself based on a first draft compromise of the Austrian Presidency of the Council, detailed in our columns (see EUROPE 12124).
Norbert Hofer, the Austrian Minister of Transport, said at a press conference that a majority of states were in favour, in principle, of ending the time change. He nevertheless referred to the scepticism of the United Kingdom, Sweden and Poland.
It would seem, from our information, that national reluctance is greater. Poland and Sweden have expressed a certain scepticism, without being outright prohibitive. But Greece, Portugal, the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent, Cyprus, reportedly expressed strong opposition to the proposal to end the time change.
While this proposal is certainly well received in principle in a majority of Member States, the meeting allowed ministers to reaffirm the grievances expressed by national experts based in Brussels.
Thus, a good number of Member States have emphasised the criticisms made to the Commission taking into account the impact assessment submitted by that institution and requested further clarification from it.
In addition, several Member States fear that the future directive will create a "patchwork" of slots within the Union, according to Mr Hofer.
Germany, for its part, has already indicated its willingness to keep summer time at all times.
The date of 2021 recalled by Vienna. The question of the choice of date was also discussed.
"Member States need more time to reach a final decision", commented Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc at a press conference.
If she does not wish to waive the dates of 31 March or 27 October 2019, as proposed by the Commission for a final changeover to summer time and a possible final changeover to winter time, she admits that she must "accept today the possibility that more time may be needed".
In order to address a number of concerns and needs, particularly in the transport sector, Mr Hofer recalled that Vienna had proposed, in its first draft compromise, to postpone the end of the time change to 2021.
Delaying this proposed deadline seems to be the position of most Member States, in particular those wishing to work internally in advance, although Baltic and Nordic European countries do not agree.
“It's something we can almost do next year", said Kadri Simson, Estonia's Minister for Infrastructure when she arrived.
A safeguard clause. Mr Hofer also suggested that the Commission should appoint a coordinator to ensure that the implementation of the future directive is harmonised so that there is no "patchwork" of time zones, while knowing that the institution could not interfere with the Member States' competence to choose their slot.
The Austrian Minister said that he had proposed, at the end of the meeting, to introduce a safeguard clause that would allow the Commission to launch "concrete measures" to amend the text, if "unexpected problems" should arise during the harmonisation phase. However, this idea seems rather vague.
Although it does not seem that the time change will end in the EU next year, Mr Hofer nevertheless said he hoped that a political agreement in principle ('general approach') would be reached at the Transport Council on Monday 3 December.
Here again, according to our information, such a deadline seems optimistic. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)