ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(75)319
Vol.1975/0113

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES
COM(75)319final
Brussels,23June1975
COMMUNICATION FROMTHECOMMISSION TOTHECOUNCIL
Introduction ofsummertimeintheCommunity
COM(75)319final

f
DRAFTCOMMUNICATIONFROMTHECOMMISSION TOTHECOUNCIL
Introduction ofsummertimeintheCommunity.
1.Explanatory memorandum
Atpresenta"summertime"systemisinforceinthreeMemberStates:theUnited
Kingdom,IrelandandItaly.TheFrenchGovernmentrecentlydecidedtointroduce
summertimeasfrom1976.Thesituationatpresentisasfollows:
Wmter Summer
UnitedKingdom,Ireland •GMT GMT+1
Othermembercountries GMT+1 GMT+1
including:Italy ■ GMT+1GMT+2
France GMT+1GMT+2(asfrom1976)
Theperiodsinwhichsummertimeisinforcedifferfromcountrytocountry:
UnitedKingdom,Ireland:from15Marchto26October
Italy: from1Juneto28September
France(asfrom1976):vernalequinoxtoautumnalequinox(approximately )
ItshouldalsobenotedthatEuropeanStandardTime(GMT+l)isinforcein
otherEuropeancountries,includingthosewithwhichtheCommunityhasveryclose
links:
Switzerland ,Austria
Norway,Sweden^
Thefollowingaresomeoftheadvantagesanddrawbackswhichshouldbetakeninto
consideration whenassessingthedesirability ofadoptingsummertime:
(a)Bysettingbacklighting-uptimeintheevening,summertimemakesitpossible
toreducepeakeveningelectricity demand.Ontheotherhand,itcausesan
increaseinpeakmorningdemand,butthisislessthanthereductioninthe
evening.
Electricity consumption remainsmoreorlessconstant;therehasbeena
slightincreaseasaresultofsummertimeinItaly,0.3"to1$savingsare
expectedinFranceandtherehasbeennoappreciable changeintheUnited
Kingdom.
AswellasAlbania,Czechoslovakia ,theGermanDemocraticRepublic,Hungary,
Yugoslavia,Poland,Portugal,Spain.

-2- CQM(75)319final
(b)Anyadvantagesforroadsafetyresultingfromthelongerperiodofdaylight
intheeveningareoffset "bythedrawbacksinthemorning.Statisticsin
theUnitedKingdom,acountrywithrecentexperienceof"bothsystems-
BritishStandardTime(GMT+l)wasinforceallyearroundfrom1968to
1972-donotindicatethatsummertimehasasignificanteffectonthenumber
numberofroadaccidents.
(c)Slimmertimehasabeneficialeffectoneconomicandsocialactivitybymaking
itpossibletospreadactivitiesmoreefficientlyovertheday(forexample,
thereisoneextrahourofdaylightforleisureactivitiesorsports).
(d)Summertimeentailsanumberofdrawbacksforelectricityproducersand
certainusers:e.g.,time-devices mustbealteredforday/nighttariffsand
eachyearthereisone23-hourdayandone25-hourday.
(e)Harmonization ofsummer .timethroughouttheCommunitywouldhave,afavourable
impactoninternational transport,fromthepointofviewofbothoperators
andpassengers ,astimetableswouldbesimplified.Nevertheless ,itshouldbe
notedthatforcommercialreasonsoperatorsbringintheirsummertimetables
onvaryingdateswhich,withtheexceptionofItaly,arenotthesameasthose
inforceorproposedforsummertime.(Thisquestioncouldbeexamined
separatelyattheappropriatetime.)
Promtheforegoingthefollowingconclusions canbedrawn:
(a)Thegeneraldesirability ofharmonization throughouttheCommunitycouldbe
outweighed bydifferencesingeographical situations.
(b)Theargumentsinfavourofintroducing summertimemayberegardedassound
buttheyarenotconsideredtobedecisive.
(c)Itwouldbedesirabletointroduceuniformarrangements ,includinguniform
datesofoperation,forregionsincomparablegeographical situations ,
withintheCommunity.Forpsychological andpoliticalreasonsitwouldbe
advisabletoavoidgivingtheimpression ,thatchangesarebeingmadein
uncoordinated fashion.

-3-COM(75)319 final
(d)Inview ofthedecision made "byPrance (which isaligning onthearrangements
inItaly ,asfarasprinciples ,hutnotdates ,areconcerned )itwould he
desirable forall thecountries onasimilar longitude toheprepared to
align aswell .Itwould also hedesirable -ifalltheMember States concerned
doalign ,forcontact tobemade immediately with theother European
countries inacomparable situation (forexample ,Switzerland ,Austria ,
Norway andSweden ).
Lastly ,itmust berealized that thesituation described above would entail a
change intime during thesummer intheUnited Kingdom andIreland compared with
continental Europe .Infact this isnotadrawback since itwill make thehour
difference constant throughout theyear .
Asaresult ,thesituation intheCommunity would beasfollows :
Winter Summer
United Kingdom ,Ireland GMT GMT+1
Other Community countries GMT+1 GMT H-2
Thus ,apart from theabovementioned one-hour difference fortheUnited Kingdom
andIreland ,thehour would bethesame time throughout theCommunity .
.>à•.....
ruide-lines
Accordingly ,theCommission considers that alltheMember States could adopt
summer time ,foraperiod tobedetermined bymutual agreement ,forthefollowing
reasons :
(a)bysetting back lighting-up time insummer ,such arrangements would be
beneficial toeconomic andsocial activity andwould beinkeeping with the
energy conservation policy towhich alltheMember States have subscribed ;
(b)harmonization oftheperiod inwhich summer time isinforce would bean
appropriate measure ofunification intheorganization ofeveryday life in
theCommunity ;
(c)furthermore ,this measure would facilitate theharmonization ofinternational
transport timetables .

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ShouldtheCouncilacoeptthisapproach,theappropriatelegalinstrumentwould
beaCounoilResolution,asthereisnolegal"basisintheEECTreatyforthe'
adoptionofa"bindinginstrumentinthisfield.