The EU is polling citizens whether to scrap daylight savings

The European Commission launched a public poll whether to scrap its biannual daylight saving rules. Citizens have until August 16th to decide whether to stick with the current directive, or to choose another set of rules to follow year-round.

28 European countries recognize daylight saving time. Their clocks go forward one hour in the summer, and back in the winter. This equates to more evening daylight during the lighter months and extra morning daylight when it gets darker earlier.

Finland gathered more than 70,000 signatures earlier this year asking for Europe to abolish their rules. As for people in the northernmost part of the country,  the sun doesn’t full set in the summer, nor fully rise in the winter. However, the petiton was unable to enforce any change as all EU members must follow the same timetable to keep trade and travel running smoothly. But the action did spark a debate in the Parliament about whether the current daylight saving rules should be overthrown.