Extending summer time

20.3.2009

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2223/09
by Avril Doyle (PPE‑DE)
to the Commission

In 2005 the US implemented a programme of extending Daylight Saving Time (DST) by four weeks (an additional three weeks in the spring and an additional week in the autumn). After its first full year in operation (since 2007), there is already clear evidence that it has helped reduce energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. In fact, a report by the United States Department of Energy found that extending DST by four weeks saved enough electricity to power 100 000 homes for a year. Similarly, a recent study by the University of Cambridge also suggests that increasing summer time would lead to a decrease in both energy consumption and carbon emissions as, during the peak-demand period from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., many of the more expensive and carbon-emitting ancillary stations are switched on.

Given the priority for energy efficiency and the recently adopted climate and energy package (P6_TA(2008)0609), could the Commission please recast/review the Daylight Saving Time Directive (2000/84/EC[1]) accordingly?

• [1] OJ L 31, 2.2.2001, p. 21.

OJ C 189, 13/07/2010